Brother Bennie D Brown, of Omaha, Nebraska, has the distinction of being the first brother elected to this all-important, fulltime position of Executive Secretary. His election stands out among many great accomplishments of the 33rd General Convention at Tulsa, Okla
Eminently prepared for the position Brother Brown will need the fullest support of every officer, and chapter for the success and prestige expected out of the Executive Secretaryship.
February, 1948
BELFORD V LAWSON General President 2001 Eleventu Street N W. Washington D C
WILLIAM N LOVELACE First Vice-President 1303 Burdette Street, Cincinnati, Ohio
WILLIAM H GRAY _ „__ Second Vice-President Florida A and M College Tallahassee Florida
LOUIS H SCHUSTER • Third Vice-President Virginia State College Ettrick Virginia
A :4ACEO SMITH Fourth Vice-President
BAUKSDALE BROWN Far Western Vice President 411 N Grand, Los Angeles, Calif
BENNIE D BROWN Executive Secretary Douglas U S Army &Navy Y M C A Larrance and Arlington Lawton, Oklahoma
M G FERGUSON General Treasurer 925 11th Avenue, N., Nashville, Tenn
LEWIS O SWINGLER Editor of the Sphinx 164 Beale Avenue Memphis 3 Tennessee
H COUNCILL TRENHOLM ..Director of Educational Activities State Teachers College Montgomery, Alabama
CHARLES LANE General Counsel LAY MEMBERS
CORNELIUS PARRISH 6435 Eberhart Avenue Chicago, Illinois
CHARLES V WILLIE Morehouse College Atlanta Georgia
RAY L RICHARDSON Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia
JAMES R JOHNSON Langston University, Lawton, Oklahoma
PEOER DAUTERIVE 1430 East 122nd Place, Los Angeles Calif
CHAIRMEN OF STANDING COMMITTEES
SIDNEY BROWN General Secretary 417 East 47th Street Chicago Illinois
HOWARD H LONG _ Committee on Public Policy 1112 Girard St. N W. Washington D C
W D HAWKINS, JR Auditing Committee Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee
ROBERT P DANIEL __ - - — —Budget Committee Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina
CHARLES H WESLEY Historian Wilberforee University, Wilberforee Ohio
RAYFORD W LOGAN International Relations 1519Jackson St., N E., Washington, D C
J RUPERT PICOTT Publicity 201 East Clav Street, Richmond, Va
JAMES A JEFFRES Alpha Songs 1834 Paseo, Kansas City, Mo
M G MILES _ Achievements A &M College, Tallahassee, Fla
SIDNEY A JONES, JR Constitution 100 N LaSalle Street Chicago, 111
W BARTON BEATTY Election Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia
CHARLES H WESLEY Executive Secretary Wilberforee University, Wilberforee Ohio
H L DICKASON Extension & Standards Bluefield College, W Va
DEWEY D DAVIDSON General Organization Affiliation 1162 E 46th St., Los Angeles, Calif
C MORRIS CAIN Housing Commission 1711 Arctic Ave., Atlantic City, N J
BRAXTON F CANN Pan-Hellenic Council 5223 Ward St., Cincinnati, Ohio
THOMAS CLARKE Pins and Badges 417 E 17th St., Suite 309, Chicago 15,111
HOWARD H LONG Program & Scholarship 1112 Girard St., N W., Washington, D C
HOWARD BENNETT Recommendations 32 W Randolph St. Chicago, 111
ANDREW J LEWIS Rules & Credentials Bd of Education, City J Atlanta* Ga
JEW!
Dr Henry A Callis, 2306 Ea^ E., Washington, D C; Nathaniel A Murray, 150 You St., N W., Washington, D C; Vertner W Tandy 221 West 139th St., New York, N Y.; George B Kelley l-113th Street, Troy, N Y •Charles H Chapman—"Roy H Ogle—"James H Morton— "Deceased
MID-WESTERN JURISDICTION—W N Lovelace, Vice-President: Charles Gaines, First Assistant, University of Illinois; Thomas Horner, 317 North 39th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, (Area: Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin); Ernest L Savory, 186 Hamilton Ave., Columbus, Ohio (Area: Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, Iowa, Minnesota); Robert M Thomas 112 Holbrook Avenue, Detroit, Michigan, (Area: Michigan); Michael Turpeau, West Virginia State College, Institute, West Va. (Area: West Virginia); Lionel H Newsome, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Mo., (Area: Missouri, Kansas); and S E Broadus, Harrods Creek, Kentucky, (Area: Kentuckyi
SOUTHERN JURISDICTION—W H Gray, Vice-President• Clinton L Blake, Principal, West Charlotte High School 1415 Beattle Ford Road, Charlotte, North Carolina; (Area: North and South Carolina): Andrew J Lewis, 525 Tatnall St., S W Atlanta Georgia; (Area: Georgia and Alabama); Aaron L' Allen 1601 Eighteenth Avenue, N Nashville, Tennessee-' (Area: Arkansas and Tennessee); Walter Morial, 1433 Touro St., New Orleans, Louisiana; (Area: Louisiana and Mississippi)
EASTERN JURISDICTION—Louis H Schuster, Vice-President• Dr G A Galvin, 401 West State Street, Ithaca, New York: St Elmo Brady, 2603 Eleventh Street, N W., Washington' D C (Undergraduate Regional Director who will work witti Undergraduate Chapters)
SOUTHWEST JURISDICTION—A Maceo Smith, Vice-President• John Codwell, Regional Director, 5508 Tremper Street' Houston, Texas Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico- Lloyd H Williams Regional Director, 119North Greenwood Street Tulsa, Okla.; Oklahoma, Arkansas, Colorado, and Kansas-' Charles M Goolsby, Regional Director, Men's Dormitories' University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska; Nebraska and Iowa
kn ALPHA—Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; President, Aubrey Robinson, 301Dryden Road Ithica, N Y.; Secretary, John Bromley 301 Dryden Road, Ithaca, New York Jtn 18
kn 2 BETA—Howard University, Washington, D C; President, Walter Johnson Howard University: Secretary, William Thornton Box 211 Howard University Washington, D C kn 19
kn 3 GAMMA—Virginia Union University, Richmond, Virginia; President, Henry A Wise Jr., Virginia Union University; Secretary John B Walker Jr. Virginia Union University, Richmond 20 Va
ki i. DELTA—Tillotson College Austin, Texas; P-esident Thomas M Hurt, Tillotson College Austin, Texas; Secretary, James kn 20 A Bush Tillotson College Austin Texas kn 21
kn 5 EPSILON—University of Michigan Ann Arbor Mich.; President Roderick E Warren, 212 Green House, E Quad. Ann Arbor, Mich.; Secretary Leon Allain, 311 Glen, Ann Arbor, Mich kn 22
kn 6 ZETA—Yale University, New Haven, Conn., President Harold S Fleming, 60Dixwell Ave., New Haven, Conn.; Secretary, Charles H Wilson Jr., 69 Dickerman Street, New Haven Conn kn 23
kn 7 ETA—Columbia University, St Lawrence, Brooklyn City College, New York, N Y.; President Juan A Sandifer, 225 W 110th, New York N Y.; Secretary, Edward N Byas, 302 W 122d Street New York 27, N Y
kn 8 THETA—University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois; President, Kn 24 Cornelius Parrish 616 E 62nd Street Chicago Illinois; Secretary, Edward W Ford, Jr., 125 E 37th Street, Chicago, 15 Illinois len 25
kn 9 IOTA—Morris Brown College, Atlanta, Georgia, President, kn 26 B Chapman Morris Brown College Atlanta, Ga.: Secretary, James Greene Morris Brown College Atlanta, N W 4, Ga
kn 10 KAPPA—Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; President, Henry F Smith 75 E 11th Avenue Columbus 1, Ohio; kn 27 Secretary, Henry F Smith 75 E 11th Avenue, Columbus 1, Ohio
kn 11 MU—University of Minnesota Minneapolis-St Paul; President, Charles F Nichols, 742 Rondo, St Paul, Minn.; Secre- Kn 28 tary, Maurice Howell, 2207 Elliot Avenue, Minneapolis 4, Minn
kn 12 NU—Lincoln University Pennsylvania; President Miles kn 29 Washington Lincoln University, Pennsylvania: Secretary, Gayraud Wilmore Lincoln University Pennsylvania; William Norton Treasurer, Box 354, Lincoln University, Lin- kn 30 coin University Pa
kn 13 XI—Wilberforee University Wilberforee, Ohio: President Robert M Carter P O Box 257 Wilberforee Ohio; Secretary George N Collins P O Box 257 Wilberforee Ohio kn 31 kn 14 OMICRON—Pittsburgh Pa.; President James A Jordan 6421 Drury St. Pittsburgh Pa.: Secretary, J Frederick Gentry, Box 301 Carnegie Inst, of Technology Pittsburgh 13 Penn
kn 15 PI—Western Reserve Cleveland Ohio; President Victor E kn 32 Travis 10712 Pasadena Avenue Cleveland Ohio: Corresponding Secretary Harold J Burnett 2230 E 81st St. kn 33 Cleveland Ohio
kn 18 RHO—Philadelphia Pa (Graduate Groun); President Dr W F Jerrick 1843 Christian: Secretary Dr R Allan Durrant 4500 Brown Street Philadelphia 39 Pa kn 34
kn 17 SIGMA—HARVARD University Boston, Mass.; President
Reynold Costa, 43 Rutland Sq., Boston, MassachusettsSecretary, A C Faire Ill Townsend St., Roxbury Mass
TAU—University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois; H R Alexnn der, 707 1-2 N 5th Street, Champaign, 111.: Secretary Ern est Wilson, 1301 N Clark Street, Urbana, Illinois
UPSILON—University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas- Kansas State Teachers College, Emporia, Kans.; Kans State Colleee of Agriculture and Applied Science, Manhattan KansasPresident, Howard Brown, 1101 Miss., Lawrence Kmsas: Secretary, Jonathan Booker, 1101 Mississippi, Lawrence' Kansas PHI—Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
CHI—Meharry Medical College Nashville Tenn.; President Edward C Casey Meharry Medical College, Nashville Tenn• Secretary Marshall Nichols, Meharry Medical Colleee' Nashville 8, Tenn s ' PST—University of Pennsylvania Temple University Philadelphia, Pa.: President William E Griffin, 5161 Parrish St• Secretary, Eugene Yerby Lowe, 729 N 41st Street, Philadel" phia 4, Pa
ALPHA ALPHA—University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Col lege of Pharmacy Miami University, Cincinnati, Ohio- President John W Fleming 1534 Linn St., Cincinnati OhioSecretary Andrew S Johnson, 505 Poplar Street, Cincinnati 14 Ohio
ALPHA BETA—Talladega College Talladega Ala.; President, Robert Lofton, Talladega College Talladega, Ala• Secretary William Johnson, Talladega, Ala
ALPHA GAMMA—Brown University, Providence, R I
ALPHA DELTA—University of Southern California; Los Angeles California; President Edward Maddox 1205 Via Nicola Los Angeles California; Secretary, William Rex Freeman 1528 West 35th Street, Los Angeles California
ALPHA EPSILON—University of California, Berkeley Calif• President Howard P Grant 2600 Ridge Road Berkley' Calif.; Secretary, J Oscar Williams, 1017 Sixtieth Street' Oakland Calif '
ALPHA ZETA—W Va State College Institute West Va
President Virgil C Hayes; Secretary Robert Peters 212-D-' Prellman Hall, West Va State College Institute West Va'
ALPHA ETA—Stowe Teachers College of St Louis University St Louis Mo.; President, George Hyram- Secretary, Bernard Brown, 1117 Armstrong St Louis Mo
ALPHA THETA—University of Iowa Iowa Citv IowaP-»sid»nt F'dridge Leonard, 121 N Dubuque St Iowa: City Iowa: Secretary, Lewis A James, 603S Capital' Street' Iowa City Iowa
ALPHA IOTA—University of Colorado Denver ColoradoPresident Wendell A Peters 2304 Williams Street Denver 5 Colo.; Secretary, James D Grant 2365 Glenarm Street Denver 5 Colo
ALPHA KAPPA—Springfield College, Amherst College, Springfield Mass. Amherst Mass
ALPHA MU—Northwestern University Evanston 111.; President Isaac H Jackson 4751 Forrestville Ave. Chicago, 111.; William C Pyant Secretary, 1930 Brown Avenue, Evanston 111
ALPHA NU—Iowa State College Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa; President, Arnold Banister, Crocker St
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
LEWIS O SWINGLER 164 Beale Avenue, Memphis 3, Tenn
ASSISTANT EDITORS
ROBERT CUSTIS
771 St Nicholas Ave., New York, N Y
MILTON S J WRIGHT Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio
FEATURE EDITORS
J EDWARD COTTON 348 N Manassas St., Memphis, Tenn
MACEO HILL
291 N. 21st St., Columbus, Ohio
G BLYDEN JACKSON Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn
GEORGE B KELLEY
1—113th St., Troy New York HEADQUARTER
RE: JURISDICTIONAL REDISTRIBUTION
I am to advise you that a majority of the Executive Council voted that the regional jurisdiction be as follows:
LOUIS H SCHUSTER, VICE PRESIDENT, EASTERN DISTRICT: Maine, New Hampshire Vermont, Massachusetts Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia District of Columbia
BARKSDALE BROWN, VICE PRESIDENT WESTERN DISTRICT
Washington, Oregon, Utah Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, California, Arizona, North Dakota South Dakota
A MACEO SMITH VICE PRESIDENT, SOUTHWESTERN DISTRICT: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico, Louisiana
WILLIAM N LOVELACE, VICE PRESIDENT, MID-WESTERN DISTRICT: Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois
WILLIAM H GRAY, JR., VICE PRESIDENT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT: North Carolina South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama Mississippi, Tennessee
FRAT FUN EDITOR
O WILSON WINTERS 28 Curren Arcade, Norristown, Pa.
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
SIDNEY A JONES 180 West Washington St., Chicago, 111
CLARENCE H MILLS, SR Wilberforce University, Wilberforce, Ohio
PROGRAM EDITOR
J RUPERT PICOTT
201 East Clay Street, Richmond, Va
MOSS H KENDRIX 1927 11th St., N W., Washington, D C
ANDREW J LEWIS II 525 Tatnall St., S W., Atlanta, Ga
DOWDAL H DAVIS, JR 2711 East 21st St., Kansas City, Mo.
ART
JAMES D. PARKS
Lincoln University (Mo.) Jefferson City. Mo
SPENCE M SMITH 164 Beale Ave., Memphis 3, Tenn
Published February, May, October, and December by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., at 164 Beale Ave., Memphis 3, Tenn Address all communication for publication in the SPHINX MAGAZINE to Post Office Box 2031, Memphis, Tenn Address all letters or personal communication to 164 Beale Ave., Memphis, Tenn Entered as second class matter at the post office in Memphis, Tenn., under the Act of March 3, 1879 and accepted for mailing at the second class rate of postage
Subscription Price Two Dollars Per Year
CHAPTERS throughout Alphadom by now have learned through their delegates about many of the sweeping decisions made at the General Convention at Tulsa, Oklahoma It was indeed a long, and perhaps drawn out meeting which proved costly to the Fraternity and individual brothers However, the work accomplished will in large measure justify the time consumed That is providing such work will prove as beneficial as has been predicted for it
There were three major developments growing out of the 33rd General Session Each will affect our course of action for this year if not longer
First of all Alpha elected an executive secretary who will devote his full time to the Fraternity This was the most outstanding action taken at the convention It settled an old issue that had been "hanging fire" since the Chicago convention in 1945 As one delegate so aptly said, "It is better to settle this question once and for all."
Election of Brother Bennie D Brown, of Omaha, Nebraska as the first Executive Secretary brings to this office a young family man with rich, and varied experience as an Urban League and YMCA-USO director His headquarters, yet to be decided as the Sphinx went to press, will become the nucleus of the organization Brother Brown will by virtue of his office, become the keeper of all of our important records and other properties "the mainspring" of our activities within and without the Fraternity It is hardly necessary to add that the utmost in cooperation and support by every chapter is necessary to make the office of executive secretary a success Future issues of this publication will be increasingly devoted to activities of the new secretary and his headquarters
Creation of a fifth jurisdiction to include the inland west and west coast was the second major development at the Tulsa convention There are now chapters all up and down the west coast and with the constant, westward movement of Alphamen it is reasonable to expect that the newly created Far Western Jurisdiction will make -a distinct contribution to the future progress of the Fraternity
To Negroes of America, the tragic death of Mohandas K Gandhi, renowned Indian leader, is regarded with a sense of personal loss It could not be oth.rwise to a people whose own struggle against various forms of racial discrimination and social injustice has had such a close affinity with the struggle of the people of India Gandhi's great spiritual power was the weapon that he used to finally free his people from the yoke of the British Empire Leaders of Negro America in years past had demonstrated great spiritual power, but by the time Gandhi was becoming a world figure the Negro was getting away from the very thing this mite of a man was using to frustrate the British masters of his country Within his life time it brought independence for India It won for him the favorable sentiments of people throughout the world even among many leaders of Britain The fact that his death came through an assassin's bullet does not diminish his great achievement in world affairs any more than the fatal bullet that struck down Lincoln, the Emancipator
Certainly Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity committed as it is to a fight for democracy on its highest level, takes cognizance of the passing of so great and unique a human and yet Divine personality
Brother Barksdale Brown has the distinction of being the first elected to the office of Far Western Vice-President The jurisdiction carries with it another elective office, that of Undergraduate Lay Councilman, and the honor of being first to hold this office goes to Brother Peter W Dauterive
Much of the credit, however, for setting the stage for the creation of the Far Western Jurisdiction goes to Brother Dewey D Davidson, president of Beta Psi Lambda, and regional director Brother Davidson, long-time resident in Los Angeles, and a graduate of California University, has had a hand in setting up of Alpha Epsilon Beta Psi Lambda Gamma Xi, Gamma Phi Lambda, and Gamma Chi Lambda He played an important part in making the Pan-Pacific Convention on the coast in 1936 a great success, having worked closely with the late lamented Bert McDonald, Alpha's first Western VicePresident, toward this end
Thirdly, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity indicated that it would more actively interest itself in public issues by offering substantial financial aid to the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority National Non-Partisan Lobby with headquarters in Washington, D C Mrs Edna Over Gray, of Baltimore, Md., Grand Basileus of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, in pursuance of her organization's desire to get other groups to line up with the lobby, made two personal appearances at the Tulsa convention She spoke at the public program Again before the brothers at one of their business sessions
Then the Wallace speech with its challenge to virtually every form of racial proscription must be listed as a step in our convention life of far-reaching significance Perhaps the full impact of the Wallace message delivered on the eve of the Former U S Vice-President's public declaration that he would seek the Presidency on an independent ticket will have to be measured by time and circumstances Suffice to say that at this point the Wallace address underscored one of the major aims of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity—its allout struggle for a real Democracy
GENERAL OFFICERS All General Officers except the General Secretary and undergraduate Lay Councilmen were returned to their respective offices for another year Brother Burt A Mayberry, of Kansas City Mo., relinquished the office of General Secretary after giving outstanding service for two years He has been succeeded by Brother Bennie D Brown, of Omaha, Nebraska, elected to serve as full-time Executive Secretary
Outgoing undergraduate Lay Councilmen are Brothers James L Cummings, Lane College, succeeded by Charles V Willie Morehouse; Charles E Gaines, of Chicago, succeeded by a fellow-Chicagoan, Cornelius Parrish: Alfred L Pugh, Lincoln University (Pa.) replaced by Ray L Richardson, Hampton Institute, Va.; and Albert Jones, of Los Angeles, succeeded by James R Johnson, Langston University
Los Angeles is providing both of the new officers of the Fraternity, namely Brother Barksdale Brown, Far Western Vice-President; and Brother Peter Dauterive, Lay Councilman
Officers succeeding themselves include Brothers Belford V Lawson, WashingtonD C, General President; William N Lovelace, Cincinnati, Ohio, Midwestern Vice-President; William H Gray, Jr., Tallahassee, Florida, Second Vice-President;
Louis H Schuster Ettrick, Va Third Vice-President; A Maceo Smith, of Dallas, Texas Fourth Vice-President; M G Ferguson, Nashville, Tenn., General Treasurer; Lewis O Swingler, Memphis, Tenn., Sphinx Editor: H Council Trenholm Montgomery, Ala. Director of Education: and Charles F Lane, of Chicago, General Counsel
WALLACE ADDRESS
Alpha's Public Program in Tulsa was widely publicized by the press and radio Major reason was the scheduled appearance of Henry A Wallace, former U S Vice-President and editor of the New Republic
Both dailies of Tulsa, the World, and the Tribune, carried day-by-day accounts as a "build-up" for Mr Wallace's appearance
The city's weekly publication, the Oklahoma Eagle, not only published stories of the approaching Alpha Convention with Wallace as the focal point, but editorially took to task individuals who opposed the coming of the out-spoken leader of the progressive movement in this country
That Mr Wallace failed to appear hardly detracted anything from the convention In fact his challenging speech, (Full text in this edition) delivered dramatically by Clark Foreman, president of the Southern Conference of Human Welfare, Turn to page 7
TOP HOW
Jesse Widemon
Clifford H Johnson
Clyde L Cole
Robert L Fairchild (Cor Sec'y)
Paul W Hubbard
SECOND ROW
Alpha Calhoun
Archie L. Morgan
Chas A Barnes
THIRD ROW
W E Jones
H W V Wilson
James A Rouce, Jr
FOURTH ROW
S D McCree
Theodore W Hull
Jas T A West (Director)
FIFTH ROW
James Lark
William W Black
Thomas W Harvey R B Taylor
L H Williams (Regional Director!
Booker Brown
Fred H. Parker
E L Hairston
Tnllv W Harris (Chapter President)
SECOND ROW
Harry C Ward Vice-President
Ruben D Mims
Robert S Waugh
THIRD ROW
J Tyler Smith (Treasurer)
W D Combs
W B Perry
FOURTH ROW
J L Greadington
R C Bryant (Sot.-at-Arm- Dir.)
E D Brown
FIFTH ROW
P C Wade
Joseph Ward
James R Ellis (Financial Sec'y)
E W Woods (Director)
Tulsa
- Host Chapter -
Oklahoma
TOP ROW: Left to Right: Robt H Wilkerson, Lewis E Burton E W Clark (President-elect): Anderson J Lonion W N Coots
SECOND ROW: Joe Burns, Lee A Ward
THIRD ROW: Bythc R Boyd Adam Logan
BROTHERS NOT SHOWN: Anthony Stephens Charles Adams and Samuel E Fuhr
Co-host Chapter, Beta Kappa, Langston University
From page 3
coupled with his declaration in Chicago the very next day that he would seek the Presidency as an independent candidate, were well timed to give the convention the maximum in publicity One of the local radio stations broadcast the address, and newspaper men from the daily press all over the state were on hand to give first-hand coverage
Great credit goes to the General Chairman, Brother Dr Tollie W Harris, Mayor Lee Price, the Oklahoma Eagle, along with other leaders of that community for keeping down the so-called "Red Scare" in connection with the Wallace address His Honor, the Mayor, remained on the platform at Convention Hall through most of the program, and personally wel-
comed the visiting delegates to the "Oil Capital of the World." Next day the World gave the Wallace speech front-page position The Eagle and Oklahoma City Black-Dispatch, carried the full text of the message Other newspapers allotted considerable space, and comments were made on several radio networks
CONVENTION REPORTS
Much valuable time was again saved at the Tulsa convention because of the splendid manner in which annual reports were made. General officers and chairmen of important committees gave their reports in writing. For the most part these reports were done up neatly in mimeographed form and there was little of the "last minute rush" to put final touches as was frequently the instance at sessions in the past
Every delegate was in position to bring back to his chapter a copy of each re-
port made in Tulsa Chapters are urged to carefully go over these reports and learn more about the innermost workings of the General Organization
While it is obvious that reports and financial statements of elective officers should be carefully evaluated, the increasing importance that is being put upon committee activities makes diligent study of committee reports necessary The report by the Committee on Program, under chairmanship of Brother Dr. Howard H. Long, was far-reaching. So much so that the committee, almost at the outset of the report, made this observation:
"Such a complete report encompassing fundamental and structural organizational changes deserved the thorough and extensive scrutiny of each chapter, as a body, and each brother before final adop-
Turn the Page
From page 7
tion as a policy. Pursuant thereto, complete copies of the report v/ere caused to be sent to each chapter in the hope that considered guidance might have been given the delegates for voting at this convention."
There were other committees whose reports deserved almost the same interest and chapter consideration Notably the reports given by the Constitutional Committee, Brother Sidney Jones, chairman: Commission on Housing, Brother C Morris Cain, chairman: Committee on Ritual, Brother John Fleming, chairman; Committee on Alpha Songs. Brother James A Jeffress, chairman: Pan-Hellenic Council Committee, Brother Braxton F Cann chairman, to name a few Each of these committee chairmen turned in his report in written form, and should by now be in the hands of every chapter represented at the Tulsa Convention ALPHA PHI ALPHA And The POSTWAR WORLD Brother Dr Rayford W. Logan. Chairman of the Committee on International Relations Among Minorities, and Alpha's immediate Past General President, could not be present at the Tulsa Convention, but he did present, in booklet form, his annual report which should command the attention of every brother Brother Logan points out:
"Alpha Phi Alpha was the first organization to focus attention upon the problems of the Negro and the Post-War World Even before the United States entered the war, I took the initial steps in this direction Our public meeting at the Louisville General Convention in 1941 had as its theme the subject of the Negro and the Post-War World Other organizations have since dtvoted considerable attention to this subject, but our initial leadership is an established fact. Our continued leadership i.= an ineluctable obligation."
"ALPHA MAN OF THE YEAR" "AND WINNERS OF AWARDS" Brother George H Rawls of Beta Nu Chapter, Florida A & M State College, was selected as the 'Alpha Man of The Year." See December Edition for names and pictures of other candidates for this honor which Brother Rawls has the distinction of being the first to win This year a larger number of chapters, especially among the undergraduate, .ire urged to send in the names of chapter "Alpha Man of The Year" in order that the winner of the title will be more representative of the entire brotherhood Only about twelve chapters were represented in the 1947 contest, according to Brother M. G. Miles, chairman.
Trophies and other awards were presented to the following chapters:
Undergraduate Division
Alpha Rho Chapter Morehouse College, best scrap book (365points), winner of the Metal Arts Cup Runners-up were Alpha Beta, Talladega College, 315 points: and Beta Nu Chapter, Florida A. & M. State College, 305 points.
Graduate Division
Beta Lambda Chapter, Greater Kansas City, winner of the McGee Memorial Cup (with 335 points): Alpha Delta Lambda Chapter, Memphis, Tenn., winner of the Allen-Ferguson Trophy with 235 points Brother Burt A. Mayberry, retiring
General Secretary, was named Alpha Man of the Year by Beta Lambda. Alpha Delta Lambda Chapter selected Brother James (Jake) Barber as its Alpha Man of the Year Chi Lambda Chapter, Wilberforce, Ohio, elected posthumously the late Brother J Aubrey Lane for the honor
CHANGES IN RITUAL In the January 15th communication of the General President, attention was called to the drastic and fundamental changes made in the Ritual of the Fraternity. Revision of the Ritual which represents the innermost secret and workings of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, took considerable time and thought at the last convention Undergraduate chapters in particular, but the entire brotherhood are urgently requested to take immediate steps to comply with this revised Ritual in carrying out their initiation ceremonies These changes were effected to eliminate brutality Alpha again becomes first in putting down a time-worn and outmoded practice which never was in keeping with the finer aspect of the Fraternity JOB ANALYSIS To the chapters or individual brothers who are not auite clear as to the proposed duties and resoonsibilities of the newly elected Executive Secretary, it is suggested that a copy of the "Job Analysis of Executive Secretary" as reported to the General Convention by Brother Leroy W Jeffries be studied. A copy of this report should have been submitted to the chapters by their delegates
SOUTHWEST HOSPITALITY
Convention host brothers "called all their shots" and made them good in so far as living up to promises about the grand manner in which they would entertain the 1947 General Convention Visiting brothers had very little to complain about Carver Junior high school, under principalship of Brother Clyde L,
DEATH SHOCKS ALL ALPHADOM . . . Brother Karl Downs. president of Samuel Huston College, Texas, whose sudden death February 27th came as a shock and loss lo the entire Fraternity Brother Downs coined the now famous Alpha slogan, "A Voteless People is a Hopeless People," while a student at Gammon Theological Seminary He was present at the Tulsa Convention, having arrived on the last day with Brother LaFayette M Harris of Philander Smith, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Cole, offered all the essential facilities for making the sessions click There was even the "free use" of telephone service This hasn't happened before or at least in a very long time There was a cafeteria with good food and a pleasing personnel to serve in quarters adjoining the main auditorium. Typewriters, and mimeograph machines with a number of young ladies on hand to operate them were available throughout the convention
Brother Tollie W. Harris, and his associates did everything possible to keep all prices down to normal, particularly taxicab fare Their Woman's Auxiliary under leadership of Mrs Primus Wade, carried out a brilliant social agenda filled with numerous parties These affairs were so planned to keep visiting Alpha wives and friends of brothers occupied during the day when the sessions were on.
At night major social events took place They included an informal party by Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, a Formal Ball extended by the Tulsa Inter-Greek Council (composed of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sigma Gamma Rho, Delta Sigma Theta, and Zeta Phi Beta Sororities, and Kappa Alpha, and Omega Psi Phi Fraternities), and the Grand Alpha Formal.
Music for these occasions was furnished by one of the most popular bands and "named band leaders" in the Southwest, the Ernie Field Orchestra The setting! Well the Big Ten Ballroom, located on a beautiful highway stretch with an Indian name, Apache, offered everything even an Indian Paw Pow The souvenirs were also expressive of the section, an Indian canoe, and a delegate's badge with an oil derrick tie clamp.
CONVENTION SECRETARY Brother John Buckner, of St Louis Mo., Convention Secretary, and members of his staff deserve a real "Alpha Salute" for the tre-
To the Founders, Officers, and Brothers of Alpha:
Since the last convention I have travelled approximately 30,000 miles I have talked with several thousand brothers My views are, I think, fairly well known to the Brotherhood This fact coupled with the great need for saving time and completing our business with dispatch and thoroughness as we did last year, relieves me of rehearsing and relieves you of listening to my views in this report
A Tribute to our Departed Brothers
Since we last met the Grim Keaper has often invaded the house of Alpha Death is but a piece of the world's order and a parcel of the world's life For some of our departed brothers life was a long summer's day; for others a short wintry night For them, and for us, the moment comes when the great nurse, death, takes man, the child, by the hand and quietly says, "It's time to go home. It is your bedtime Night has come and you're tired, Child of Earth. Lie down at last in the quiet.nursery of nature and sleep." Has the death of so many of our brothers been meaningless or just inscrutable to the living? Let us draw from (heir departure a fresh and full dedication to the purposes of life and death God grant that they have not died in vain; that their death is clothed in sanctity Man is not a bit player condemned to say a brief line upon the stage of time and then make a final exit The Divine Playwright could not have written so poor a drama and then, make man and the drama ludicrous by eternal silence. No. Though our brothers sleep in the silent continents of eternity, they still speak to those of us who can hear At the end of ninety-two years of glorious living Mr Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes quoted the Latin poet who said, "Death plucks my ear and says 'Live I am coming.'" Sleep well, brothTurn the Page
From page 8 mendous job carried out. Minutes of each day's proceedings were gotten out, and copies submitted to delegates shortly after each session Brother Buckner worked all New Year's Day in an effort to get all convention data up to date He was enthusiastic in praise for the young ladies who worked with him. But wouldn't have been?
GREETINGS Telegraphic greetings were sent to the convention by the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority while in its annual session at San Antonio, Texas; Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity assembled in Atlanta Georgia; three chapters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Supreme Grammateus of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the Grand Keeper of Records and Exchequer of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, and the Tulsa Chapter of the American Veterans Committee
BURT'S RECORD SPEAKS . . . Brother Burt A Mayberry, taking up the General Secretaryship in Chicago (1945) at a time
GIVES OBJECTIVES
Attorney Belford V Lawson, General President, eloquently reviewed the glorious history of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and gave the objectives of the organization at the Public Session in Tulsa, Oklahoma Sunday, December 28th Convention Hall His message was addressed to nearly 3.000 persons on hand at the Hall; and many more heard the program over KAKC which broadcast part of the speech
when the active membership roster of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity was at a very low and dangerous point, filled a niche that he alone seemed made to order for He leaves this office with a record of service as distinctive, and inspiring as any that can be claimed for any brother during the long course of our glorious history His financial reports
reflected the job he had done through the year Up to the very end Burt and his charming wife went about the business of checking every detail to see that the "House of Alpha" was in perfect order before taking their bow Brother Mayberry is not the kind who can retire where his Fraternity is concerned Let's keep him busy for his own sake and ours
fn m l'ni
ers You live in our memory as do the stars in the canopy of eternity, A Tribute to our Living Brothers
I am deeply grateful for the encouragement and cooperation of hundreds of brothers who during the past year, have understood and appreciated what we have been trying to do to guarantee that the cathedral of Alpha Phi Alpha will endure through the ages with spire and minaret struggling toward the sky; and who realize, as your present administration does, that we are not competing among ourselves or with other organizations for power and prestige or popularity We are competing with eternity
I wish especially to record my gratitude to all the national officers, regional directors and all the chapter leaders who have understood and worked More especially am I grateful to Brother Vice President William H Gray, Jr with Brother Lewis O Swingler as his general chairman. Brother Vice President Louis H Schuster with Brother Jawn A Sandifer as his general chairman Brother Vice President A Maceo Smith with Erother Royal Puryear as his general chairman, and Brother Vice President William N Lovelace with Brother Sidney A Jones, Jr as his general chairman, who organized most effective regional convention in Memphis, New York, Dallas and Chicago In my judgment regional conventions generate new interest in our program, guarantee wider understanding and participation, bring us fresh ideas, develop new leaders and assure us of greater income They should be held in every region every year
Our financial condition is sound, our program increasingly effective and our prospects for the future encouraging Other officers will report to you more specifically on all phases of our work It would be unfair and ungracious of me to do so
Be assured that this administration realizes that we must be keyed to scientific advance and to fundamental policy We know that we cannot fumble thro along an erratic line of drift and old-line routine Surely in the forty-first year of our existence, in the twentieth century of the Prince of Peace, in the mightiest age of human reason and human destruction, we have in Alpha Phi Alpha enough altruism, learning, benevolence and vision to build an organization which will not be used for the profit or power of a few No one individual or group or clique has an unrestrained privilege or invested capital in the Fraternity Is the aim and end of Alpha Phi Alpha private gain or social well
We believe that by hard thinking, high vision and hard work there will rise from the choas and degradation of this day a great covenant of righteousness so that individual man everywhere shall have his divinely endowed and inalienable rights guarded by neighbors who live like brothers In this coming victory of Democracy and Christianity, we of Alpha Phi Alpha must increasingly participate We believe that the burden of responsibility and leadership which rests on us in Alpha Phi Alpha has never been so great and the opportunitiesbefore us never so near our grasp We believe that with
tion
is committed to the
Lee Price, of Tulsa, in extending greetings The progressive head of the world's oil capital is shown as he spoke to the Alpha I'lii Alpha delegation and their guests at Convention Hall during the Public Proeram
our undeveloped might and that of our consorts, we can become indispensable to the fertilization of the universal soil of mankind in this aching earth Recommendations
1 Realizing as Plato said in his essay, "The Apology of Socrates," that "the life that is unexamined is not worth living." I appointed, pursuant to your mandate, a Special Program Committee whose report is shortly to be made to you Every recommendation of that Committee is incorporated in this report by reference and I urge the immediate adoption of the report The same is true of the Committee on Executive Secretary, the Committee on Budget and the Committee on International Relations Among Minorities I beg of you to remember that the tradition, preservation, and advance of Alpha Phi Alpha is predicated on independent, intellectual self-assertion democratic change, abiding faith, and determination to move forward
2 There are widespread and constant efforts to deprive countless American citi-
zens of their rights of freedom of assembly of speech, of movement, of franchise, of equal opportunity, of employment and of many other social, political and economic rights granted by the Constitution A primary duty falls upon members of the Bar to appraise the issues involved in securing those rights, to argue them in appellate courts, and to report to the people so that public opinion may be led toward a sound and just appraisal of their vast importance Members of the Bar who belong to Alpha Phi Alpha have assumed leadership in recent years in the discharge of this responsibility, a responsibility too big and too important for a few individuals or organizations I think the time has come when the fraternity under the leadership and direction of our General Counsel should formulate and prosecute a sound, progressive, legal pro gram "to secure these rights" and I so recommend Political liberty is the highway to economic and social progress This is the great lesson to be learned not only from the history of the Consti-
tution of the United States, but from the history of all democratic progress and all social change
In the future Alpha Phi Alpha should initiate litigation or file briefs before all tribunals, national and international, through which we can seek redress of our grievances and secure our rights I so recommend
We stand on the threshold of great advance We have vision, faith, understanding, we have money or can get the money we need; and we have the greatest treasure of all—learned and devoted brothers "What is the treasure of Rome?" runs the old legend 'The manhood of Rome." We no longer cry out of the depths to the deaf and dumb masters of the world. We cry only to our sleeping souls whose answers are written in the stars
We will not turn back the clock to the easy world of yesterday We must move forward to the world of today and tomorrow—a world in flux, a troubled, hard, ugly world—needing order and beauty, needing the strength of our hands and the spirit of our hearts We are going forward as thinking, devoted, fighting brothers and we are going forward together In this forward movement we have on our side hundreds of young leaders and thousands of brothers who love Alpha Phi Alpha and who work for it unselfishly We will not stand for any mildewed Machiavelli who thrives on talk, confusion and chaos to retard our progress I speak not only for myself but for this administration 1 speak for the devout brothers and I speak for the Dawn I am persuaded that the will and determination of this convention is to have peace and brotherhood and progress It is a combination of the old faiths and of new ideas which will mark the orderly, peaceful progress which we seek and enable us to build a fraternity which is the fulfillment of the traditions of the old master builders when our fraternity was young and the achievement of the scientific and spiritual advance which the present and future demand Albert Camus in his powerful novel, "The Stranger," said "Gazing up at the dark sky spangled with its signs and stars, for the first time, I laid my heart open to the benign indifference •of the universe The inner dignity of man rises up in solitary defiance of man's inhumanity to man " If we really love Alpha Phi Alpha, let us feel a sense of kinship, love and society not only among ourselves, but among all people so that the Sermon on the Mount, The Bill of Rights, and the United Nations Charter will become realities for ourselves and our children in days to come
I submit for your deep and urgent consideration (1) the immediate establishment of the office of full-time Executive Secretary; (2) the election of officers as will be recommended by the Program Committee; (3) the immediate participation along with the other sororities and fraternities, in the so-called non-partisan lobby project in Washington
These three progressive steps arc indissolubly joined together and constitute the machinery necessary to be set up today for the achievement of our longrange objectives tomorrow These departures will require political genius,
Brother Attorney Charles W Anderson former member of the Kentucky State legislature, and presently assistant commonwealth attorney, has prepared three bills for introduction into the state law-
sound business methods, ripe wisdom, and fresh vigor If we make these changes at this convention, we will compel and receive the instinctive respect of the people Absent them and we will not be able to survive the judgment of history
Our finest hours are not in the past, but in the unborn tomorrow The glorious history and the challenging future of our Fraternity are the backdrop for my profound urgency
I conclude this report with the words of William Ellery Channing "That mind is free which resists the bondage of habit, which does not mechanically repeat itself and copy the past, which does not live on its old virtues, which does not onslave itself to precise rules, but which forgets what is behind, listens for new and higher monitions of conscience, and rejoices to pour itself forth in fresh and higher exertions."
Respectfully and fraternally submitted, BELFORD V LAWSON, JR.,
General President
making group which would (1) open up registration in graduate and professional schools to Negroes; (2) prohibit discrimination against Negro physicians nurses and patients in public hospitals, and (3) create a "little civil rights" bill for Kentucky or prohibit discrimination against Negro citizens in stores.
The Columbus Community Forum, sponsored by Alpha Rho Lambda Chapter. has continued to hold civic and social welfare spotlight for the people of Ohio's State Capital Brother Barbee William Durham is Chairman of the Forum which is now periodically issuing an official organ The Forum Newsletter
Dr. John P. Cuber, professor of Sociology at Ohio State University, addressed the Forum recently on the subject of "Present Day Practices in Marriage Counseling." He is an authority on The Family Other speakers scheduled for this year have included Dr Roy Burkhart, pastor of First Community Church, and Chairman of the Ohio Committee Against Conscription The Forum looks forward to presenting Honorable William H Hastie, Governor of the Virgin Islands before the year ends
A.K.A GRAND BASILEUS SPEAKS Mrs Edna Over Gray, Grand Basileus of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and prominent resident of Baltimore, Maryland, was one of two featured speakers at the Public Program, Tulsa Oklahoma Mrs Gray is seen here as she delivers a prepared message at Convention Hall Notwithstanding the stirring Wallace address, delivered by Clark Foreman as proxy, just a lew minutes before her appearance Mrs Gray held the interest of her audience, including a number of whites.
She told of the great work being done through the now famous A.K.A National Lobby in Washington, D.C.. and invited men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity to join hands with the Sorority in making the lobby even more effective in pushing through the U.S Congress legislation beneficial to the Negro Mrs Gray made a subsequent appearance at Carver Junior high school before a closed session of the convention
PINCH-HITS FOR WALLACE
With force and eloquence Clark Foreman, of Atlanta, Georgia, president of the Southern Co pi Human Welfare, served as proxy for Henry A Wallace, in delivering the major address at the Public Program of Alpha's Thirty-Third General C in in Tulsi. Oklahoma. The message, chali its scathing attack upon all forms of racial proscription, was broadcast over KAKC. Excerpts were picked up by other radios over the coun-
Mr Wallace was prevented from attending the session because of bad weather His address, "Ten Exlra Years," is published in its entirety in this edition of the Sphinx
By Henry Aqard Wallace
EDITOR'S NOTES:—This challenging message was forcefully presented for Mr Wallace by Clark Foreman President Southern Conference of Human Welfare.
ALPHA PHIALPHA FRATERNITY,INC
Thirty-third General Convention Tulsa Oklahoma, December 27-31, 1947
Public Meeting—Convention Hall Sundav, December 26. 1947
Address by HENRY A WALLACE
Read by: Clark Foreman, President of the Southern Conference of Human Welfare
I have not come here to address the Convention of this Great American Fraternity—older than the State in which it holds its Convention—in order to repeat simple truths
I have not come here to recite facts aibout conditions you know fully as well as I do—and which you have learned at more bitter cost
Nor have I come to demonstrate my knowledge of the contributions the Negro people have made to building and defending this great nation
These are themes better saved for audiences which have less grasp of the problem I used them recently in talking to large and receptive audiences in key Southern cities I have used them, no less importantly, in many a Northern city. It is vital to prick consciences in the self-righteous North
I am here to say: JIM CROW IN AMERICA HAS SIMPLY GOT TO GO
But I am not here to recite the economic facts and figures which support the case. If there were no such facts, the simple immorality of segregation and imination is enough to condemn it It is enough to demand our every effort to destroy it
I have come here to state my belief that the abolition of Jim Crow has top place on the agenda of a program for National defense I have come to say that until it is abolished the words "DEMOCRACY" and "FREEDOM" and "JUSTICE." used so glibly to support our Foreign policy, will ring hollow throughout the world.
I come to you as a liberal fellowAmerican I come as one who served in the New Deal Administrations which did more than any administration since the time of Abraham Lincoln to improve the living conditions of the Negro people Yet I make these points only to emphasize that: Whatever we white, unprejudiced Democratic Americans have done: whatever the New Deal did, has been far less than enough It has been less far less than our principles demand that we do Today we must be as stubborn in our devotion to principle as the abolitionists of a century ago The times demand it THEDEFENSE OF OUR COUNTRY DEMANDS IT
I am here to state my opinions as to
why many of us, who have been genuinely devoted to the elimination of prejudice and its fruits have not been fully effective in fighting for our belief I state these opinions with the hope that they will help us find a more successful course for the period immediately ahead. First, let me state my impression that our greatest weakness has been a failure to take the offensive Weliberal, unprejudiced white Americans have never failed to answer pleas for the defense of the rights of our Negro brothers; but, we have not maintained a day-to-day offensive to demand complete justice
I mentioned a minute ago the necessity for pricking consciences in the North Many of us who live outside the South have been vigorous spokesmen for change in the South. We have looked at the civil rights statues on the books of many Northern states and assumed airs of selfrighteousness We have contrasted them with the quite opposite laws—the laws imposing segregation—which are found in the South In using this base for selfrighteousness, we have been kidding ourselves. We have taken pride in statutes. but we have not taken leadership to see that the laws have meaning When we are willing to face facts, we know that discrimination and segregation in the North are only slightly less brutal than in the South Yes, when we face facts we know that restrictive covenants are the most despicable example of priority for property rights over Human rights We have taken pride in a lesser evil, but in an evil all the same
Sometimes we have been handicapped by our own liberal philosophy We have been too tolerant of intolerance. We have let the intolerant assume the offensive We have permitted ourselves to be forced into defensive roles
I think today of the utterly nauseating spectacle of hearings before the House Un-American Committee I think of its great drive against liberals, progressives and communists This drive is not made against these groups, including the communists. because they are advocating the overthrow of the Government by force and violence It is directed against them because they have demanded that we give meaning to the words—EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
Every uttered truth produces a tremor in those who live by lies The truth is truly dangerous. It eats up prejudices and devours hate The house committee has taken the offensive against truth It is trying to silence the writers and artists and political leaders who are most adept at carrying truth to the people. It is trying to intimidate into silence the professors, teachers, scientists, and ordinary citizens who like to speak the truth It is receiving whole-hearted assistance from the craven men of the motion picture industry It will receive similar assistance from the BIG MONEY MEN on the Boards of trustees of Universities and colleges The Un-American Committee is a fortress for the defense of Jim Crow
I should like to dwell for just a moment on the subject of the Motion Picture Industry It will help explain my thesis that we are too often on the defensive.
I can remember—sometime back—join-
PLATFORM GUESTS Full view of rostrum showing Public Program Speaker,
platform guests, Convention Hall, Tulsa, Oklahoma, during the
ing with others in protesting to the Movie Industry against the use of certain stereotype characters of Negroes and Jews and other minorities We pointed out that these portrayals—these stereotypes—helped to perpetuate prejudices Although this accomplished some good, it was essentially a defensive act We have not been equally vigorous in demanding positive contributions from the Motion picture Industry toward the elimination of prejudice
The Movie Industrialists buckled under to the Thomas-Rankin Committee because they feared for their markets. They thought the American public would condemn Hollywood for harboring progressives They worried that the people would boycott movies, even though no evidence of subversion had been uncovered
Yes, the Movie magnates worry about their markets. Like many other huge industrialists they value profit above human needs I think it is time that we talk to them in their own terms
Let them use the full powers at their disposal in the fight for the abolition of segregation and discrimination—or let them feel the organized resistance of millions of white and Negro Americans Let them know that we shall not support an industry which is afraid of fundamental American principles Let them show the same respect for free-dom loving Americans that they have shown for that defender of the Klan, John Rankin, and his compatriot, J Parnell Thomas If
Turn to page 34
CONGRATULATORY MESSAGES . . . These are only a few of the hundreds of congratulatory messages received at the office of Henry A. Wallace, Editor of the NEW REPUBLIC on his challenging message at the Tulsa (Okla.) Alpha Phi Alpha Convention last December Mrs Viola Lewis-Scott, Secretary to the former U S Vice-President, (seated) smilingly fingers through scores of the letters with a friend at Mr Wallace's New York headquarters
AT CONVENTION HALL
Nearly three thousand people, representing a cross-section of citizens of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and hundreds of others from over the country, were on hand at Convention Hall to hear Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity rededicate itself to an all-out fight against racial discriminations and second class citizenship in all forms Speakers for
PAN-HELLENIC
Members of the sev-
the occasion were President Belford
ton, D, C,
Lee
president of the
While these comments do not represent a cross-section of viewpoints, they should serve as an index to the various ways the Tulsa, Oklahoma Convention influenced many of the delegates
E W BEASLEY
BETA UPSILON LAMBDA
Jackson, Tennessee
I have attended many conventions and have been impressed in many ways and to different degrees However, I must say that the spirit and enthusiasm of the Tulsa Convention have made an indelible impression upon the course of my future thinking
WILLIAM H WETHERS
XL LAMBDA
Chicago, Illinois
I am a junior in membership years and was Junior delegate from Xi Chapter, Chicago This was my first conven-
tion I was slightly disappointed at the apparent lack of meaningful purpose on the part of the body I however, was enthralled at the diplomatic administrating of National President Lawson I was grateful for the keen, analytical interpretation of various measures by Biother Bindly Cyrus I was fascinated by the convention town women
THOMAS M HURT
DELTA CHAPTER
Tillotson College
As this was my first national convention I was naturally thrilled over the session composed of so many brothers fiurn all over the country It does seem to me that the Tulsa Convention was very far reaching and challenging in its seope The cooperation and hand work of the Brothel's in Tulsa and the Gen-
eral Officers outlined, what I think, was the greatest convention Alpha has ever known.
CECIL W BOSTON
BETA DELTA LAMBDA
Daytona Beach Florida
The Thirty-third General Convention was a -igniiicant mark toward piogress It wis encouraging to note how all of the Brothers were in accord with the other Gieek-Letter organizations in an effort to work together for benefit, not only for the minorities, but all people By joining foices with others in working with the Council set up by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority ten years ago, we too have shown that the great brotherhood of Alpha is on the march toward better things May our spirit forever reign
Turn to page 37
I am still thinking of the recent convention at Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa, a city of paradoxes It is the first place I've seen where Negroes are segregating white people Living in a complete city of their own, ious, picturesque and thriving, the Negroes are self sufficient and contented, sprawling Gulliver like up the endless Greenwood and Peoria Avenues, out toward Osage County while the whites are herded on the east side of the Frisco Railway Line virtually segregated into a white ghetto Greenwood Avenue is well known, it is always "Greenwood."
DR. WINTERS
The name of avenue or street is never added Its wide expanse is being widened still more Enterprising merchants are busily remodeling and refurnishing their store fronts
One barber shop was undergoing repairs. A sign was posted which read: "Business as usual Customers shaved in the rear." I declined the invitation!
I still think of the many ladies who said: "I always read your Frat Fun."
Many said they liked "The Night Before Christmas" article Mrs Swingler wearing a beautiful Mink coat which Boss Lewis bought her after that Southern University episode when Brother Felton Clarke loaned him a Cadillac and it didn't come back on the campus before the faculty curfew of 3 a m Oh conscience, thou art a jewel!
I still remember the exclamations the ladies make when they learn that I am Winters, the Frat Fun nuisance. One lady said: "Why I thought you were taller" Another said: "Why you are meeker than I expected How can you be so funny?" Another said: "You are darker than I expected, but much cuter."
I should like to get word to Mrs Schus-
ter and Mrs Tyler and tell them that their husbands didn't arrive at the Convention until Monday, December 29th. And I'd like to tell Mrs. Chas. H. Wesley that her husband didn't reach there at all No, I am not a scandal monger! I DID NOT KNOW WHERE THEY WENT
Let them sweat it out of Brothers Schuster and Wesley and Tyler
I have no illusions about any monopoly on humor One smart brother said the evolution of the Alpha secretarial files was interesting He said an official once charged a former secretary of keeping the files in his cellar, another official asserted that the recent secretary kept the files in his attic But the smart brother said after the election of a new general secretary: "Well the Alpha files have traveled from cellar to attic but since the new secretary has a trailer, I guess the Alpha files will now be located in the trailer . . . cellar to attic to curbstone."
It is not difficult to remember the convention even though several weeks have passed. One day during some unusually routine, hum drum proceedings I was seated on the platform in my role as parliamentarian No arguments ensued, no demands arose for constitutional or parliamentary interpretation, so I amused myself staging a Bald Head Contest
In the audience were many unwitting contestants of varying percentages of hirsute sparity. There was Jewel Kelly, Brothers Henry Crawford Brodhead, Lovelace, McCaleb, Beatty, Peck Custis, Jernck Tom Perkins, C L James General Counsel Lane, Tom Young and Rev Brother Stalnaker My attention was called back to the proceedings but not before I had decided that Brother Lane had the highest polished pate
Many highlighted moments of humor occurred I remember that one brother complained during the taking of the official photograph that his neighbor was standing in a position that would cause his face to be shaded in the finished picture. Puckish Brother Buckner said: "Don't worry about shading his face, nature has already beaten you to it."
'Twas at the recessed session when Supreme Basileus Soror Edna Over Gray was addressing us, and Brother Nat Johnson, coatless, in khaki shirt sleeves, arose to ask a question In righteous indignation, Brother Henry Dickason shouted at him in characteristic pedagogical fashion: "Young man, fasten, fasten, fasten your —er—shirt collar before you address this lady, our honored guest." And we all breathed easier as Johnson, apologetically,• buttoned his shirt up to the neck
Brother Thomas Young of the Norfolk Journal and Guide newspaper publication and President of the National Publishers Association gave us a fraternal address that would have graced even the Halls of Congress He labelled it Bread and Butter Philosophy but kept us in a realm of speculative humor when in his introductory remarks he told us he strained his back just before leaving home.
I wonder how many of my column readers have attended an Alpha Convention I wonder how many have seen Rex Ingram play Genie in the picture "Sinbad The Sailor." Well, when decorum reached a record low, Brother Atwater had Brother J M Granberry appointed assistant Sergeant-at-Arms You don't know Brother Granberry? Did you see the giant Genie in the movie? If so, you've seen Granberry or at least you saw how he must have appeared to the fractious delegates. Immediate order obtained. Once a general officer arose to speak belatedly on a subject Brother prexy Lawson said: "The case is closed, you're out of order." Brother X said: "But I think—" Brother Granberry sternly glowered and said: "Sit down, didn't you hear him say, you're out of order?' ' Brother X grinned and meekly s-a-t d-o^w-n (Name supplied upon request.)
Many events flash thru my mind, more than the editor will allow me space to chronicle The greeting from Kappa Alpha Psi by Mr. Charles S. Roberts was a humdinger Propriety forces me to use that appelation If you want the speech, send me a stamped, self addressed envelope, I will send you a copy for your next
smoker or stag banquet. Yes, it was "drilling for oil."
The Pawnee Indian Dance in full ceremonial war dance was spectacularly wonderful However, it was faintly reminiscent of some initiations I have seen— minus the sadistic "vicissitudes." (Madame your husband will have to explain that to you—if he dares.)
But this is a soliloquy. I am supposed to be talking to myself. Yes, I remember Brother J Tyler Smith, I still thrill to the admiration I had of Sepia Tulsa as he took me mile after mile in his car It was a real sight seeing tour He made the conduct of this column less burdensome when he said: Boy, I like you two guys from Philadelphia, you and Brother Jcnick who are afraid to miss even one convention I know you are full of stuff But I like it because its a kind of "stucco" stuff It sticks
Soliloquy again. Will I ever forget the aspirin saturated looks of hard worked Brothers Tollie Harris. Lloyd Williams, Fairchild, Combs et al. Brother Dr. Bryant had that after party hangover, that mixed elation of an adolescence after his first ice skating party of the season,— that sore but satisfied paradoxy His hospitality wassoexpansive and sincere that his guests hibernated over his bounty until near sunrise
I cannot muse over all the many parties nor the dances I attended only the Alpha formal But Tulsa is a gay place Tulsans really enjoy themselves and they don't rely solely upon Gin Rummy, pinochle and bridge They tell me, that at one party there was a very ingenious little game, simple but amusing and one in which many guests can participate It appeals to the gay, frivolous or the sedate, dignified guest It is a good ice breaker for a party if used early in the evening It is called the Bubble Race Try it sometime Take about twenty chairs and line them in two rows of ten each facing each other on opposite sides of a long room. Select two teams of ten persons each (the more sedate, the better). Give each one a fully inflated balloon Assemble them in an outer room and at a given signal they are to rush into the room to the chairs sit on the balloons and burst them The team that bursts the majority of the balloons first, wins You are advised not to use the game on too elderly persons Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you to select several keen judges to see that there is no cheating Darn clever, those Tulsans!
Overheard on the Special Alpha Pullman enroute to New York Brother Taylor, Rho Chapter—"We had a fine place The lady gave us maid service, fresh linen daily, stamps and Tulsa marked stationery. We had six meals, one with an extra guest—all this for $2.00 per day for "Babe" and myself."
Brother Sandifer, Eta Chapter,—Well, "Sugar" and I stayed at the home of an Alpha brother out near Lincoln Park necessitating bus fare or high taxi fees, we ate our meals down town or where we could get them He charged us six dollars a day Don't you think he made a mistake?
Brother Ferdinand Williams Alpha Alpha Lamibda Chapter—Oh Sandy, perhaps the brother couldn't talk very plainly. He said: Sixty cents a piece and you being a big shot lawyer from New York he thought you were tipping him. Let me tell you the story about the banquet and the electric fan and you'll feel better." He did (Ask Sandifer.)
One of Alpha's finest Conventions, notwithstanding So many things to muse over The Lawson speech, the relayed Wallace speech, the public session, the dignified presence of Rev Brother Henry Allen Boyd, Maceo Hill, Bindley Cyrus, Sir Walter (Theresa) Scott, Maceo Smith's baptism of fire as presiding officer, Sidney Jones' growing fraternal stature, the incomparable extemporaneous "Baccalaureate sermon" by Brother Howard Long following "innovations," Brother Jerrick's famous "Mon I'm getting vexed" recital The tempering influence and quiet wisdom of Kelly, Cannon, Trenholm, Milton J S Wright, Morris Cain The oratorical gymnastics of Brother Dr Bill Gray The sartorial splendor of Brother Dr Mitchell, the Texan dentist and Brother Richardson, Indiana barrister The legislative impetuosity of Brother Henry Crawford, Bindley Cyrus, L H Newsome Lawrence Lackey and B T Harvey, each of whom were always 99 percent correct in their contentions The presence of the president of the National Education Association in Brother Dr John Brodhead And about three pages of personalities, events and activities impossible to relate
The crowning glory of the convention produced the crowning theme that should follow every Alpha brother thruout the year. Rev. Brother Wayman Ward, author of the Fraternity Prayer, preached the
convention sermon with the thought compelling theme: "It's Time for Christ."
Excerpts:
'"Tis time for Capital and Labor to reconcile their differences.
'Tis Time for man to regain the faith in himself which the United Nations shows he has lost
Time for Freedom Train to revitalize patriotism.
Time for mechanization to halt the push-button world—push a button light up an exposition, blast a mountainside, detonate an atom bomb, or run a toy electric train.
Time to realize that distrust in man engenders distrust in God
Time to know that there is more hate in the world today than in the era of the Roman Empire
Time to make a better world, not in the statute books, but in the hearts of men
This is Christmastime—Time to give gifts—Time to go to Alpha Conventions
But look about you All these portents, signs, contentions, idealogies, tell us—
"It's Time For Christ."
Slowly our caravan glides away from the happy scenes at Tulsa And Tulsan's feeling that they have given of their best, unstintingly, say in unison as the last guest leaves the bountiful fraternal feast: "I'm sorry you're gone Thank God!"
O Wilson Winters
Greetings Brothers:
Well, another great Convention has been held by our Noble Fraternity, and I think those of us who had the privilege of attending can say that we came away with an avowed renewed faith that we all will cherish more the high ideals of Alpha Phi Alpha. Tulsa proved to be one of the greatest towns for conventions ever visited, and the populace, colored and white, together were keyed up to the point of reception by a very well planned convention through an ably selected convention committee
So, with these opening words I want to say to all who didn't get my season's greetings, personally, I hope the Yuletide Season was a pleasant one and the New Year will bring all the happiness that your heart desires in this strife-torn world. My greeting did not appear in the last issue—had to make way for some vital convention news So, here's to all Brothers, late Season's Greetings!
As I was glancing over convention pictures of yesteryears, preparatory to writing this "splurge" I compared the past convention pictures on the basis of familiar faces: there was a notable absence of a number of outstanding Brothers Always seen on the convention pictures are Brothers: B Andrew Rose with his outstanding bald spot that is readily seen on any picture Rayford W Logan, his short self among the tall timber sons of Alpha: Charles H Wesley with his beaming smile: J. H. B. Evans and his glamorous bow ties: John A Gregg with his "episcopalic" goatee; Farrow W Allen and his professional "politicking:" The long and short Burrell Brothers, from "Upstate" New York, and numerous other Brothers who have been familiar figures at conventions during the last two decades
Of course, as per usual, for the last ten years, almost the first Brother to be seen at a convention was Brother F. D. "Shorty" Atwater Tis always nice running into him So, Brothers Let's all try to make it one of our "musts" during the year, to attend the Alpha Convention This thing is growing big —so let's grow with it!
A notable characteristic of this convention was the prominent part that the various number of undergraduate
Brothers played They were seen and heard on every hand Let us not forget that this is an organization composed, for the most part, of undergraduates More power to them!
Our very able and capable Frat Fun Editor, O Wilson Winters and the convention parliamentarian was really hard pressed for some interpretations during some of the more heated convention sessions He was "shof'at from all sides by some heavy timber in both graduate and undergraduate Brothers. He came out, for the most part, right side up
Thanks to the Committee on Ritual for presenting to the convention recommendations to take brutality out of the initiations, and set procedures to govern all Chapters. These recommendations were received without much opposition
And while speaking on initiation, the model one that was staged by the host Chapters was somewhat lacking in its solemnity, due largely, I believe, to its non-rehearsal for such an occasion That Brothers, is something which is lasting—and I do not mean the impressions
Well, as you know, history was made at the Tulsa Convention The guest speaker at the public meeting held on Sunday at the large and spacious Convention Hall of the city, was the international character, the Hon Henry Wallace, former Vice President of the United States; but due to last minute
conditions of the weather Wallace, personally could not appear He wired his entire speech, especially prepared for the occasion, and it was read—or should I say delivered, by a friend of his. I dare say Mr Wallace could not have delivered his own add'-ess with as much or with any more emphasis in the right places, as was done by his stand-in
Only unusual turn in the much publicized event was the formal protest entered by one of the colored small time ministers of Tulsa After being politely "set aside" by the Mayor and the Administration, I will venture to say that he will be the most popular unpopular man about town for some time to come
The Mayor put in his unexpected appearance and squirmed very nicely during the program, which he sat through
Flowers to Brother Belford Lawson for the masterful way he presided at this session. He really "sold" himself to the Brothers and to the public, which swept him in for another term More power to you, B V.! I'm in your corner
A few things seen and not seen at the convention headquarters: Not enough telephones available for the use of the large number of,visiting Brothers The otherwise fine facilities offered by the one floor plan of the building: No up and down stairs to committee meetings: public address system available to all rooms: The bed principle of "blind dating" for those who hsd no company (Better, at one of the planned opening social gatherings. have these possible ladies assembled and let the best man win his choice of company) The unnecessary flat rate for all meals that were served: make it cafeteria style— Some young Brothers' budgets won't allow flat rates
I want to pay tribute to the 'Mrs.' for the wonderful way she accepted not being along on the convention trip I do hope that in the near future she can and will avail herself of the opportunities afforded an Alpha wife
To the Executive Council and its considerations of Convention sites: I would like to start a ball rolling for the Christmas meetings to be held somewhere in the middlewest My reason, and no offense to those good Broth-
ers who live way up east, but as was evidenced by this season's weather, travel becomes a problem. So let's think along these lines. Summertime is O K
Well, it was really gratifying to see a home town boy in action and how well he was received as a "visitor" and a member of the official family of the Fraternity during the convention I speak of none other than our Editor-inChief of our Sphinx Magazine, Brother Lewis O Swingler, who spent a large portion of his younger days in Tulsa— having been a graduate of the local schools before entering the University of Nebraska He beamed all over himself. There was no opposition to his re-election to his post as Editor for which I was one who helped put him in back in Nashville.
And speaking of elections of offices, I want to take this opportunity to thank the Committee on Selection of Candidates for the office of Executive Secretary for the privilege of being one who was among those few who qualified out of 30 or more applications I had my hat in the ring and finished a good third in the race i e., one of the last three who withstood all the bambardment from the convention. I hope I'll have better luck next time, for brother. I love this gang and have some ideas of my own I want to see injected.
I am quite sure Brother A Wayman Ward, of Chicago, Author of our Fraternity prayer, is really sporting it out as "Heap Big Chief Ward." a title bestowed upon him by a real Creek Indian Chief, who was a guest at our affair by turning over to him a real Indian Chief's hat all autographed and everything. What say Chief Ward! Congrats to your squaw and papooses
I couldn't leave this article without baying compliment to Brother and Mrs Harry Ward He was chairman of entertainment and put over a swell job, but the fine hospitality extended in tbeir home leaves me with but one alternative. that is, to visit Tulsa again and soon. Be on the lookout for me Harry.
The Editor of the Oklahoma Eagle whose office I made my headquarters between session, Mr Ed Goodwin and bis staff, say that we. frorm Beale Street, really can take what the Tulsans put on us—me especially. All I can say is. "he hasn't seen anything yet." Be looking in on him soon.
Well, as you see I've about used up all the space alloted me in this issue: but before closing I want to say a word about a few things: That the disgraceful muddle surrounding Wilberforce and her two schools will soon be cleared up Our oldest institution of higher learning, with all its outstanding graduates, should fare better than the present unfavorable publicity But as is the current wave today, the A M E Church is largely responsible for all the shortcomings A great organization that has gone all out "hay wire!" Last year it spent close to a quarter million dollars on unnecessary court litigation, for which a small few of the top leaders can take the blame Watch A M E.'s, your high place as an organization of Negroes is surely crumbling
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GIVES FRATERNAL ADDRESS Brother Thomas W. Young, secretary Alpha Phi Lambda Chapter, Norfolk. Va., and recently elected president of the Negro Newspaper Publishers Association, gave one of the most inspiring addresses at the Tulsa Convention. The message, titled, "Watch Your Bedfellows," apppears in this edition of the Sphinx.
Brother Young is also president of the NORFOLK JOURNAL AND GUIDE Publishing Company, and son of the nation's eminent journalist, P. Bernard Young, Sr. His brother, P. Bernard, Jr., served for several years as Sphinx Editor.
By Thomas W Young
The setting for this Thirty-third Annual Convention of our fraternity here in the oil capital of the Nation—this unique and thriving city which has embraced our clan so warmly and given us the best of its hospitality—inspires, or should inspire, some searching reflections on our position in the scheme of this country's national economy. Many of you have doubtless observed with great pride the progress made by Negro business in the city of Tulsa The wide variety of commercial establishments and the healthy status of
the Negro community's business structure are equaled in few other cities of this land
It seems now almost a fixed pattern that where such separate racial economies spring up in this country, they develop almost in direct proportion to the extent and completeness of their separation from the white community
What results is a sort of city within —or beside—a city The newspaper with which I am connected, in its promotional literature, frequently refers to this self-contained Negro economy as Turn the Page
From page 19
"The Inner Community."
For further examples of this pattern wc need only look at the other thriving Negro business communities scattered throughout the South — Durham, Atlanta, Miami Memphis They grow strong—and separate.
And as we reflect on this pattern, a disquieting question comes to mind: Can we as a race realize our finest aspirations for integration into the dominant political and economic order while at the same time creating a more self-sufficient separate order of our own? The search for an answer, I fear, is going to rattle some ideological skeletons
I hope the purists among us will forgive me for being concerned primarily with the bread and butter of our race ideology. You doubtless recall Marie Antoinette's classic reply when informed that a mob of her hungry subjects gathered around the palace was demanding bread.
"If they cannot get bread," she said, "Why don't they eat cake?"
Well, that seems to be the attitude of many of our advisers when the discussion gets down to the bread-and-butter of the race's existence Disdainful of the practical phases of the problem they seem to brush off the whole unpleasant thought with the remark: "Let them eat cake." I proposed to talk today about the sordid matter of bread and butter, even if it isn't the most popular subject I might choose
In the battle for our rights we have got to know who and where our enemies are. and we've got to make every round of our ammunition count If we spend it on the wrong targets, or fire carelessly and inaccurately at the right ones, we will be slowly but surely losing the good fight
Currently it seems fashionable to direct our wrath at the prevailing economic system in this country We have been subjected to second class citizenship so long and our cries against the hardships encountered have been so futile that we very easily see as our natural enemy any phase of the system which seems to support the dominant group in its more favorable position It is difficult for many of us to distinguish between these evils, on the one hand, and the economic SYSTEM under which they mature, on the other But unless that distinction is clearly drawn, we will be dissipating our ammunition on the wrong enemy.
The conditions which we strive to correct are not the exclusive product of any particular economic order or form of government. In greater or lesser degree, the same inequities can be found under every type of political order
During the late war, colored soldiers stationed in England found the British to be remarkably friendly and hospitable Many of our soldiers came to regard them as superior to the Americans in their ability or desire to lock out race prejudice and discriminations Yet in West Africa and the Far East, in India and in Egypt, and throughout her colonial empire. Great Britain has a
very bad record in its dealing with colored minorities
Many Americans regard the French people as being free from racial hatred;1 which manifest themselves in mistreatment of minorities Yet in West Africa and the Far East, France has one of the most despicable records for her treatment of colonial subjects
The Dutch who suffered so at the hands of the Nazis are generally believed to be emancipated from the type of oppression practiced by Americans But in the Netherlands East Indies we will find one of the foulest records of mistreatment of natives to be found anywhere
The Chinese, victims for centuries of color prejudice and discriminations" by European imperialists, might be suspected of a passion of justice and fair play. But the brutal and inhuman treatment by the Nationalist government of all who oppose it would indicate that the Chinese have mastered the art of intolerance as well as have their Western brothers
The Russians usually are Exhibit A when we talk about tolerance of mankind But even they have encountered difficulty in embracing all the people within their orbit The beheadings we hear about, the violent liquidations and the herding of thousands into concentration camps suggest a revealing likeness of the Russians to other species of mankind
Even the Haitians who have had enough unpleasant experiences in this country to place a high value on justice
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few if any complaints were registered about housing Visitors were however profuse in their praise of the well-appointed homes in which they were housed and the cordiality of their hosts These young ladies too were always willing and ready to give helping hands to any committees needing clerical services
This is only a brief, biographical sketch of Alpha's newly elected Executive Secretary. Future editions of the Sphinx will fill in the details Suffice it to say here that Brother Bennie D Brown, of Omaha, Nebraska, who was elected to the ofice during the last convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma, presented an imposing record that led up to the distinction of being the first to serve in the capacity of Executive Secretary
Alpha's first full-time secretary comes to his jab with a rich background for administrative, personnel, and social welfare service He was identified with the Army-Navy Department of the Y M C A during the entire course of the war, and several years afterwards Brother Brown served as U. S. O. club director in Tacoma, Washington, San Diego, California, and Lawton, Oklahoma
Brother Brown gained an enviable rec-
ord on the West Coast through his program activities He sponsored brotherhood programs, featuring outstanding Hollywood stars He had charge of the National U. S. O. Music Festivals for two consecutive years These festivals were broadcast by the Mutual Broadcasting System on a coast-to-coast network
While in Tacoma, Washington, Brother Brown had charge of one of the largest and finest YMCA-USO clubs in America He was vice-president of the Tacoma Social Workers club, having been up to that time the only Negro ever admitted to the organization He was also a member of the Mayor's Housing Committee of that city
In San Diego, the progressive young Alpha leader, led the fight against discrimination in social service agencies He maintained throughout his term of service in San Diego that integration was
most desirable among the servicemen He always insisted upon inter-racial staffs in the YMCA-USO clubs he directed
Prior to entering Y M C A work Brother Brown was Labor Analyst for the Kiewit Condon Company, Omaha, Nebraska His duties were to administer mechanical aptitude tests to workers who were being considered to do technical work in war industries throughout the Mid-West He was stationed at that time in various United States Employment Offices of the Mid-West.
As State N V A Supervisor in Nebraska, Brother Brown had opportunity to work with and coordinate the industrial and technical training given to the young people in the various schools in order that they could be sent over the country to work in mushrooming war industries He helped to process over four thousand youths in this way
Brother Brown is a graduate of Iowa
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THE NEW TRAIL BEGINS FOR ALPHA
Alpha Phi
Alpha, as the world's oldest and largest Negro college Greekletter society, has never feared to move forward and explore new fields of service This has been due in large measure to the practical application of the fraternal spirit the willingness of one brother to give the benefit of his experience to another Here is shown the classic example of such cooperation among Alpha men
Retiring General Secretary Burt A Mayberry (Left, standing) goes over important records with the newly elected Ex-
From page 21
University, and holds both the B A., and M A degrees from that institution He studied for one year toward the Ph D degree at the University of Iowa, and later studied at Columbia University
Brother Brown possesses many talents and gifts that should be of great service to chapters over the country He played first violin in the University of Iowa
ecutive Secretary, Bennie D Brown (Seated) while Brother W D Hawkins, of Nashville, Tenn., Chief Auditor, looks on They were given valuable assistance by the "sweetheart" of all Alphadom, Mrs Grace Mayberry, wife of Burt
This striking picture was especially made for the Sphinx Magazine at the home of Brother and Mrs. Mayberry, Kansas City, Mo., where Executive Secretary Brown spent more than a month becoming orientated into his new job with the help of the Mayberrys
Symphony orchestra for five years, and traveled with the 103-piece aggregation to many cities where the orchestra appeared in concert He appeared frequently on radio stations WBRC and WAPI while a. resident in Birmingham, Alabama His ability as an amateur photographer has been demonstrated around the country He was especially active with the camera in Tacoma, Washington. Many of Brother Brown's pictures have appeared in leading magazines, and been released by Mr Claude A Barnett, of the Associated Negro Press
Brother Bennie D. Brown, Executive Secretary, will after March 15th be in his office at 3456 State St., Chicago 16 111. All communications for him should be sent to this address.
Headquarters for the Executive Secretary. yet to be decided upon as to location, will be announced by the General President Brother Belford V Lawson
Once the city for the office has been settled, Brother Brown will be ready to engage in an intensive campaign for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity .. . not only for new members and revival of interest on the part of old brothers, but to give the organization expression in every area of human service
The Committee on Resolutions endorses the following Resolutions: 1—WHEREAS thousands of Negroes, as well as other underprivileged people in states that still maintain the Poll Tax are denied full citizenship, and WHEREAS the Congress of the United
States, to date, has not passed a permanent Fair Employment Practice Law which would protect Negroes in their right to job opportunities on an equal basis with other citizens, and WHEREAS the Congress of the United States, has failed to pass an anti-lynching law which would guarantee to the Negro people full rights as citizens to live with dignity and without intimidation!
2—WHEREAS, i! is common knowledge that Negro veterans of World War II are not taking advantage of most of the tremendous opportunities that are available under the G.I Bill of Rights, and WHEREAS we believe that Alpha men scattered throughout the country are in a strategic position to stimulate and otherwise help our veterans.
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT A SPECIAL COMMITTEE on Veteran's Affairs, responsible to the Executive Council, be appointed by the President for the purpose of gaining for the Negro Veterans of World War II the fullest possible advantages of existing and future national legislation for the benefit of veterans of World War II.
3—WHEREAS the Southern Conference on Human Welfare is a co-operative venture on the part oi white and Negro citizens of the South to combat the age-old theory of racism in that section of the country, and
WHEREAS any success that may be achieved herefrom will be of momentous value to a more genuine democracy in our country, and WHEREAS it is the policy of that organization not to accept membership outside the South, except for financial assistance
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity concur in the program of the Southern Conference on Human Welfare and that a suitable contribution be made by the Executive Council of the fraternity to that organization
4—WHEREAS housing is the number one problem in America today and the Negro is perhaps the most poorly housed, BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT Alpha Phi Alpha use its influence as an organization to bring about a greater expenditure of money on a Federal Level for public housing and that we lend greater support to such organizations that are fighting restrictive covenants to the end that more and proper housing might become available
5—WHEREAS the president of the United States has seen fit to support a Commission on Civil Rights and whereas that Commission has made a most commendable report,
BE IT RESOLVED THAT this convention instruct its secretary to write the President a letter of commendation for his efforts thus far and to urge him to follow through by recommending to the Congress of the United States the proper legislation necessary to bring into reality the findings of the Commission
6—WHEREAS the 33rd Annual Convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma has been a truly successful one, due to the efforts of many persons and organizations
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT proper appreciation be expressed by letter through our secretary to the following
Turn to page 42
Barksdale Brown, of Los Angeles, California, was elected to the position of Far Western Vice-President, after successfully pleading the cause of the West Coast brothers at the Tulsa, Oklahoma General Convention The Far Western Jurisdiction was created at the Thirty-third General Convention in the Oil Capital It also carries another elective office, that of under-graduate Lay Councilman. Brother Peter Dauterive was elected to that office.
Brother Brown extends greetings as follows:
America has for centuries been regarded as a land of opportunity for achievement and a chance to demonstrate the material of which we are made Pioneers started at the East Coast, as did Alpha Pioneers started the West Coast and Alpha is now pioneering in this newly formed Jurisdiction Realizing the responsibility entailed, the Brothers in this Area have rallied nobly to the cause of Alpha and tangible results will soon be shown to Alpha and the world at large Pioneers come from hardy stock and the
task facing us in this Jurisdiction Is gigantic but with the cooperation of Alpha Men in all sections plus their good wishes we soon hope to make the name of Alpha a symbol of success in all walks of life
To justify our statements we are planning the establishing of new chapters, the reclamation of many Brothers, the building of a few Alpha Houses, the extension of hospitality to General Officers and members of our Fraternity and a helping hand to humanity As stated in the Convention this is the last frontier in America and here we make our stand Need we state that young progressive Alpha Men have always risen to an occasion Here on the coast we have that type of Alpha Men
Lf one may inject a bit of levity, let the Coast serve notice that other sections better, watch their laurels both as regards their basketball laurels and the beautiful unattached ladies as when we pull our Convention Special into Atlantic City—Lord help the weaklings! Give them strength and leave the beautiful ladies to the strong Alpha Brothers from the Coast!
Every year brings a greater degree of participation and representation on part of undergraduate Alpha Phi Alpha brothers at the General Conventions There is less of the "convention fear" and feeling of inferiority complex by these Alpha collegians as was demonstrated at the last two conventions Columbus, Ohio, 1946, and the more recent 1947 session in Tulsa, Oklahoma
For the past two years the present administration has placed on program as Convention Speaker an undergraduate brother In 1946 when Brother Albert Jones, of the University of California, Los Angeles, spoke at the Columbus, Ohio Convention it marked the first time that a college studen had been given such a major convention assignment Brother Charles Willie, of Morehouse College gave an inspiring address in Tulsa (Full manuscript appear in this edition )
Representation on the Executive Council by undergraduate brothers has also been increased Presently there are five under-graduate Lay Councilmen representing each of the five jurisdictions.
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EASTERN DELEGATION
Erothers of the Eastern Jurisdiction, including a "sprankling" of visitors from other sections Front row, from left:—Brothers Alfred Pugh, Lincoln University (Pa.), retiring Lay Councilman; Jewel Nathaniel A Murray, of Washington, D C; Dr Tollie W Harris, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Convention Chairman: Jewel George B Kelley, of Troy New York; Dr A K Nyalbongo, of Brooklyn, New York; Dr St Elmo Brady, of Washington, D C; Dr Lloyd H Williams of Tulsa, co-chairman of the convention committee
Among others in the delegation are Brothers Walter Booker, president of Mu Lambda Chapter, Washington, D.C.; Dr
From page 25
They are shown here, from left: Brothers Charles Willie, James Roy Johnson, Langston University; and Cornelius C Parrish Chicago U; Lay Councilmen Ray L Richardson, Hampton Institute; and Peter Dauterive, Los Angeles, California
"Brother Parrish, speaking for himself, but probably writing the sentiment of each of his under-graduate colleagues, declared:—
"As lay members of the Executive Council of the Midwestern Jurisdiction, I am willing to serve the under-graduates at any time with their problems All that's needed, just state their problems and I will do all within my power to help the situation As young college men of today, we'll be leaders ol tomorrow,"
O Wilson Winters, of Norristown, Pa., Frat Fun Editor of the Sphinx; Dr Walter Jerrick, of Philadelphia, president of Rho Chapter; Arthur C Williams, secretary Alpha Alpha Lambda, Newark, New Jersey; Andrew Tyler, of New York City, former Eastern Vice-President: Juan Sandifer president Eta Chapter, New York, 1946 Convention Banquet Speaker, Columbus, Ohio: Thomas W Young, secretary, Alpha Phi Lambda Norfolk, Va.; president of the Negro Newspaper Publishers Association, and Fraternal Speaker; Barksdale Brown, recently elected Fifth Vice-President, Far Western Jurisdiction created at the Tulsa Oklahoma Convention, and presently a resident of Los Angeles; and W Barton Beatty of Hampton Institute, Va
By Charles V. Willie Morehouse College
TODAY, we represent the many young undergraduate brothers who believe that Alpha Phi Alpha must not take the stand of a pessimist, and declare as Shakespeare's MARK ANTHONY, that judgment has fled to brutish beast But instead, it must remain a potent organization—superbly developing its under-graduate brothers, profoundly professing an implicit faith in all mankind, and diligently initiating a courageous program To these ends we charge the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha to dedicate their efforts
We insist that Alpha must at all times present a courageous and fearless program. No longer can our belief coincide
with that of H G Wells who states that "Civilization is a race between education and catastrophe." For we contend that the lack of education is not the principal impediment to harmonious race relations. to complete religious tolerance, to sincere congressional legislations, and to unbiased legal decisions
In most instances men know right from wrong; but, to paraphrase Dr Benjamin Mays, they do not possess the moral courage to do that which they know is right Pilate, in the trial of Jesus of Nazareth, is an excellent example. Although he found no fault with the Christ, Pilate was afraid to perform his rightful dutyfree a just and innocent man This case vividly delineates a man who knew what was right but who did not possess the
moral courage to do what was right This particular incident is typical of the many found in the annals of history Hence it is the earnest desire of the undergraduate brothers that our fraternity will continue to present a courageous and fearless program, that Alpha Phi Alpha will forever serve as a colossal dynamo, supplying men of integrity who possess the necessary courage to wage a continuous battle against those who refuse to observe the dignity of man
More and more our efforts should be directed in the field of education For if men are to be free they must first possess free minds The undergraduates are proud of Brother Herman Sweatt who entered a case against the University of Texas for refusing to admit him to its school of law The situation of this brother is but a small segment of the untold difficulties which we, who are still in the process of receiving a formal education, encounter We call upon the experience of our graduate brothers to help combat a deplorable educational system We call upon the experience of our graduate brothers to assist in eradicating the gross fallacy of "separate but equal educational facilities" which so many dishonest persons and even our Supreme Court in the famous Gaines Decision would have us believe
On the other hand, there is a pressing need for students to become increasingly concerned with the operation of the city, the state, and the nation in which they reside It is impossible to make this, our America, a just society unless we are
Turn to page 43
TURN OUT DAILY REPORTS
Brother John D Buckner, Epsilon Lambda Chapter, St Louis, Mo (right end), and his assistant Brother Dr Leroy Gates, Rho Chapter, Philadelphia, Pa., made history themselves at the Tulsa Convention by turning out minutes every day of the session This had never been done before The tumult, and some time shouting over their heads where one brother after another took the rostrum to debate major issues before the convention didn't disturb this secretarial staff one bit They calmly went about recording all they heard much of what they saw, and then passing it on for the records
Brother Buckner said that their job was made much easier as the result of the efficient clerical help given them by Mrs F M Boone Miss Betty Lou Mabrie, Prof Clyde L Cole, principal of Carver Junior High school, and his office secretary
Certifying brothers as delegates and alternates from their several chapters was both an arduous and delegate task However, these convention leaders who compose the committee on credentials know exactly what to do in this regard The committee chairman is Brother Andrew J. Lewis, II, of Atlanta, Ga„ fourth from left end.
Other members of the committee, from left are:—Brothers Dr O Wilson Winters, Norristown, Pa.; John D Buckner, convention secretary, St. Louis, Mo.; William C. Pyant, Evanston, 111.; Daniel W Lewis, Kansas City, Mo.; and Kermit J Hall, of Philadelphia
She is blessed with a voice of rare beauty, and her vocal technique shows unmistakable signs of thorough musical training.—WACO Texas MESSENGER.
Through the Gifted Voice of
Dramatic Soprano Can Be Made a most successful chapter project this spring. Mrs. Meeker has been encouraged to return to the concert stage as the result of the Alpha Phi Alpha Convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma, her home
TOURS are now being planned for her by the FINE ARTS AGENCY
2436 North Quaker St .Tulsa, Okla Write Today for details of terms
A voice which is warm, rich, soft and appealing to her hearers in a most unusual fashion. LINCOLN EVENING JOURNAL.
BROTHER CANNON APPOINTED TO FEPC BY MINN. MAYOR. Under the able leadership of Hon Hubert H Humphrey, Mayor of Minneapolis, on January 31, 1947 that city established by municipal ordnance a Fair Employment Practice Commission consisting of five members to be appointed by the Mayor On May 2, 1947 Mayor Humphrey appointed the five Commissioners one of whom is a member of our race in the person of Brother Raymond W Cannon, Past General President Brother Cannon is engaged in the practice of law in Minneapolis and actively identified with organizations in the fields of civic and social welfare work
Since the adoption of the FEPC Ordnance there has been a marked improvement in employment opportunities for Negro workers A major five and ten cents store, photo development laboratory, one of the city's leading department stores and other employers have begun to hire Negro applicants for jobs requiring training and skill Inquiries of prominent employers and union officials indicate an intention to carry out a program of non-discrimination in employment A number of industrial and business establishments have indicated revision of their application forms and proceedures respecting examination and hiring of applicants for jobs
Since the school year of 1928-29, The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity has sponsored a distinctive and significant program of scholarship and fellowship grants A total of 141 .persons have shared in the distribution of $17,775 which the fraternity has expended for this purpose over the past twenty years There have been 134 persons (105 of them Brothers since the program was thus restricted after 1933) who have been given scholarship grants aggregating $11,650 There have been 15 Brothers who have shared in the distribution of $6,125 in Fellowships and Grants-in-Aid for publication Within the past five years, a total amount of $2,500 has been put aside for an ALPHA STUDENT LOAN FUND which will represent another source of assistance of the fraternity in its achievements of its ideal of SCHOLARSHIP
As a result of the authorization of the Thirty-third General Convention (held in Tulsa. Oklahoma. December 27-31, 1947) there will again be the program of scholarship and fellowship awards for the school year of 1948-49
1) There will be five UNDERGRADUATE HONOR SCHOLARSHIPS of $50 each (one in each of the five Vice Presidential regions) for the highest ranking undergraduate Brother of Sophomore or Junior Classification in 1947-48 who has made the highest scholastic average for the school year of 1947-48 on the basis of official transcripts submitted by the proper authority at the college attended Applicants for this competition must be nominated by the respective undergraduate chapter in a letter to the Director of Educational Ac-
tivities not later than May 15th and the official transcript of the nominee's rccod must be submitted from the Registrar's office by June 15th
2) There will be the RENEWAL HONOR SCHOLARSHIP of $100 to the graduate or senior undergraduate Brother, awarded a scholarship in 1946-47 or in 1947.48 who will have made his best academic record in 1947-48 and who will desire to continue in school for the next school year of 1948-49 The applicant must make formal written application and have submitted the transcript of his year's record not later than July 1st
3) There will be four GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS of $100 each which will be available for Brother applicants who plan to do professional or graduate study in 1948-49 who have not previously received an award from the fraternity and whose applications will be considered on a competitive basis in terms of the number of such applications received The applicant should submit the prescribed blank (available upon request of the Director of Educational Activities) along with an official transcript of his record, a letter of endorsement from his Dean or President and an official statement certifying to his having been accepted for admission at the graduate or professional school which he plans to attend all by July 1st
The policy of payment of these scholarship awards will continue to be that of paying the first half of the award in the fall when there is official re-
WORSHIP SERVICES
First Baptist Church, Tulsa, was packed to capacity for the traditional Alpha Worship Services Sunday morning, December 28th Guest speaker for the occasion was Rev A Wayman Ward, pastor of Metropolitan Community A.M.E Church Chicago Part of the crowd is shown leaving the church following the service Rev Calvin H Stalnaker, who was initiated into Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity during the first evening of the Tulsa Convention, is pastor of First Baptist Church.
Host brothers of Tulsa provided the best in the way of music for the General Convention Mrs Cleo Ross Meeker dramatic soprano and concert artist, was one of several outstanding musicians who appeared on the various programs She provided music at the Console, during the public program at Convention Hall, and climaxed the meeting with rendition of the Fraternity-Sorority Medley Holder of the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Music from Nebraska University Mrs Meeker has done further study at Minnesota University She has taught at Langston University and Prairie View State College, and the public schools of Sapulpa, Okla Presently Mrs Meeker is a teacher in the Tulsa Public School System and director of the Vernon A M E Senior Choir She was tentatively engaged for several spring concerts this spring by visiting Alpha men who head educational institutions
port from the college or university that the Brother has been duly matriculated for a full program of credit study The payment of the second half of the award will be made upon the submission of similar evidence, after the beginning of the second semester or the third quarter The Brother must be in good financial standing with the organization (Grand Tax paid) in order to receive the payments of the award
In addition to the award of scholarships for CREDIT STUDY toward undergraduate or graduate or professional degrees, the ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY also provides fellowships for assistance in significant and creative study and publication The first awards were made to Brothers who were pursuing graduate or professional study with special emphasis upon a particular research problem. More recently, those fellowship awards have been restricted to Grants-in-Aid for assistance in publi cation of significant work which is in Turn the Page
April 11-18 will be the eight-day period for the twenty-ninth annual observance of EDUCATIONAL-AND-CITIZENSHIP WEEK by the 93 graduate chapters and 77 undergraduate chapters
NITY, INC. These dates correspond to the same week as used in 1947 and again include two Sundays so that chapters may choose to begin or to culminate their series of programs with a Sunday of the ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATER- public program.
From page 29
line with Type C of the following categories of fellowship assistance:
A. Fellowships to assist Brothers in special projects of research which are socially-significant and scholarly-mature
B Fellowships to assist Brothers (undergraduate or graduate) in markedly significant creative work in any field deemed worthy by the Educational Foundation of financial encouragement by the Fraternity
C Grants-in-Aid or Loans in Aid to assist Brothers in the publication of socially-significant work for which the manuscript may be ready for publication
Applicants for present a detailed their proposal with mentary evidence.
Fellowships should letter-statement of supporting docuAplications for Grants-in-Aid toward publication should be accompanied by the manu script and by evidence of a proposal from a reputable publisher to produce the work There is also required an agreement for PRORATA PARTICIPATION of the Fraternity in any royalties which are payable after the publication costs have been met through sales of the publication and up to the amount of the award made by the Fraternity
The objectives of the "new program for ALPHA PHI ALPHA as authorized by the 1947 General Convention at Tulsa will be a motivating influence for the forthcoming national observance of EDUCATION AND CITIZENSHIP
WEEK These four-fold objectives include
a) The creation of a SOCIAL CLIMATE in wl.-ich the membership of the fraternity can enrich themselves for effective living and leadership in a democratic society stemming from the Nobler Religious Impulses,
b) The stimulation of an understanding of and an appreciation for our place in domestic and world affairs, both as a fraternity and as a people
c) The contribution, in whatever way opens to us individually and collectively, toward making democracy more effective as a part of living among ourselves and among our contemporaries far and near, and
d) The promotion of real fraternal brotherhood among the members . . . a brotherhood poised and balanced in the
CONVENTION ACTION
The 33rd General Session at Tulsa was in high gear when this scene was taking during heated discussion Attorney William N Lovelace of Cincinnati, Ohio is shown signifying for order as the presiding officer and in his capacity as Mid-Western Vice-President Looking on quietly (extreme right) is the General President, Attorney Belford V Lawson. Brothers Dr. O. Wilson Winters of Norris-
town, Pa., and Dr Howard H Long, of Washington, D.C., (seated on platform) seemed amused over proceedings Forefront: Dr Tollie W Harris, chairman of the convention committee, raises hand to attract attention Convention Secretary John Buckner, of St Louis, Mo (center), and his assistant went through this stormy session and a number of others with apparent calmness
great interplay of social, economic and cultural interests of our membership
Undergraduate chapters and graduate chapters throughout the nation will use their own initiative and resourcefulness to develop a week's program of observance of maximum appeal to their respective area There will be at least one major public program at which some distinguished member of the fraternity will be featured as a keynote speaker. There will be panel discussions and symposiums There will be assembly programs at the various colleges as well as special programs presented for many high school student groups There will be prize contests and special awards which the various chapters will sponsor There will be many instances of special effort to throw the limelight on some urgent community needs about which something can be done through concerted community-wide cooperation
For the second year, the national organization will also make a citizenship Medallion Award in each of the fivo Vice Presidential Jurisdictions to the UNDERGRADUATE SENIOR who will have been judged as having made the most outstanding record in SCHOOL CITIZENSHIP and in FRATERNITY ACTIVITY Each undergraduate chapter will submit its nomination to its respective regional Vic° President by April 1st who in turn will comoile and evaluate these nominations and make his recommendations to the Director of Educational Activities. Announcement of awards will be made by May 1st so that the medrllions can be ready for presentation at the respective commencement exercises of the winning seniors.
Through the office of the Director of Educational Activities THE ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY now has two special types of competitive awards open for the restricted participation of undergraduate brothers of the fraternity
In each of the five Vice Presidential regions, there will be the award of a CITIZENSHIP MEDALLION to the Brother of SENIOR classification (graduating in May 1948 or August 1948) who will have been judged to have made the most outstanding record in SCHOOL CITIZENSHIP and in FRATERNITY ACTIVITY during his undergraduate career This award is a part of the program of EDUCATION-AND-CITIZEN SHIP and is an opportunity to honor ;>nd to commend outstanding undergraduates who are completing their college career. (Do not confuse this award with "The Man of the Year'" project of The Chapter Achievement Committee.)
In each of the five presidential regions, ALPHA PHI ALPHA seeks to know and to reward the undergraduate Sophomore or Junior of 1947-48 who has made the best academic record of the year An UNDERGRADUATE HONOR SCHOLARSHHIP of FIFTY DOLLARS is thus available for one Brother in each Vice Presidential Jurisdiction This award is a phase of the program to stimulate scholarly achievement among the undergraduates of the fra-
"IT'S TIME FOR CHRIST" ' spoke Brother Rev A Wayman Ward, pastor of Metropolitan Community A M E Church, Chicago, at the Annual Church Worship of Alpha Phi Alpha held at First Baptist church, Tulsa, Oklahoma A capacity audience, including a cross-section of Tulsa's citizenry, heard the erudite minister say:
"Unless we are Christians except at the eleven o'clock church hour unless we are brothers except at convention time, we have missed the true value of time."
"Men of Alpha are held together by that Spirit that makes them bring good to the world," concluded Rev Ward
Special music for the occasion was rendered by the church choir under the direction of Mrs Carrie Booker Neeley, and Mrs Alice Neeley Williams at the piano
Brother Rev. Calvin Stalnaker is pastor of First Baptist church.
Brother Dr Henry Allen Boyd, Secretary of the National Baptist Publishing Board, Nashville, was guest speaker at Greater Union Baptist Church during the convention His sermon was broadcast over a local radio station Rev David Cooksey Sr„ is pastor of Greater Union
ternity
THE RESPONSIBILITY is on the undergraduate chapter for the submission of information in order that its member-brother can be considered The recommendation of the Senior for the CITIZENSHIP MEDALLION should be made to the respective Regional Vice
President NOT LATER THAN APRIL 1st with full supporting information respecting the record of the Brother being nominated by formal vote of the chapter. The recommendation of the Brother for the HONOR SCHOLARSHIP should be made directly to the Director Turn the Page
NEW ORLEANS DELEGATES
These two brothers of Sigma Lambda Chapter New Orleans Louisiana, gave yeomen service at the Tulsa, Okla Convention They are Brothers Jesse O Richards, Jr. and Asa Atkins, left to right Ten years before, in 1937, their chapter was one oi the hosts totheGeneralConvention
the Committee on Scholarship has de- LEGAL SORORITY ABOLISHES RESTRICTIONS
Brother Raymond W Cannon, Past General President, was invited to address Kappa Beta Pi Legal Sorority, at a dinner meeting to be held on the Campus of the University of Minnesota, Tuesday evening February 3 1948 Kappa Beta Pi recently eliminated all restrictions barring from their membership peisons of racial and minoi groups Brother Cannon's address was in keeping with Brotherhood Week s
From page 31 of Educational Activities by May 15th and arrangements should be made tor the Registiar of the institution to submit the B:other's academic record in full to the Director of Educational Activities by June Uth The announcement of the winner of each region's CITIZENSHIP MEDALLION will be made by May 1 and the announcement of the winner of each region's UNDERGRADUATE HONOR SCHOLARSHIP will be made by August 1st
There was very limited response for this past year Only one CITIZENSHIP MEDALLION was awarded and that to Brother OTIS SHARKEY of Tillotson College in the Western Region Only five chapters, and in two regions, presented nominations with suppoi academic transcripts, for the UNDERGRADUATE HONOR SCHOLARSHIP However, since the Tulsa Convention,
cided to make the four awards anyway with the chosen recipients being Brother WAYMAN McLAUGHLIN of Gamma Chapter at Virginia Union University; Brother JAMES H UTLEY of Beta Pi Chapter at Lane College; Brother KENNETH WASHINGTON of Alpha Chi Chapter at Fisk University and Brother JAMES A SMITH of Beta Upsilon Chapter at Alabama State Teachers College One of these awards is thus to the Eastern Region and the other three are to the Southern Region because of no other nominations
Let's make it a real competition in 1948 Let EVERY undergraduate chapter in EVERY Vice Presidential Region submit its nominations in the proper manner and at the proper time This is an opportunity for the undergraduates Chapter officers should not overlook their obligation to take the necessary action through their respective chapters and to submit the required nominations in the proper form
Brother N A Sweet, editor of the St Louis (Mo.) American, and Mrs Sweet have recently announced the arrival of their third heir In a unique invitation bearing the mast-head of their newspaper, and referred to as the Storkline Edition, and carrying a banner line, 'Ellen and Buzzie Have a Brother." The Sweets' latest heir has been christened Frederic Fisklin and he arrived January 21, 1948, at St Mary's Infirmary Congratuletions, N A., and Melba
...
. Members of the all important Election Committee, under chairmanship of Brother W Barton Beatty, of Hampton Institute (seated, facing camera with ballot in hand), tabulate election results Among other members of the committee recognized in picture are Brothers J R Lillard, Kansas City Mo.; C Paul Johnson, Austin, Texas; Dr Henry Lake Dickason, Bluefield State College; Dr O Wilson Winters, Norristown, Pa.; Dr Henry Allen Boyd, Nashville, Tenn.; and Rev Benjamin Hill (back turned, seated), of Muskogee, Okla
1948 CONVENTION TO ATLANTIC CITY
Without too much "ballyhoo" or fanfare, these two prominent brothers of Atlantic City, New Jersey came to the Tulsa Convention equipped with sufficient invitations from important leaders coupled with their sincerity of purpose to get the 1948 Convention notwithstanding the fact that the session met there just four years ago (1944) They are Brothers C M Cain, and William A Dart, Esq., in order named They presented to the Convention Committee on Place, headed by Brother Luther Peck, of Chicago, invitations from Mayor Joseph Altman, of Atlantic City (see December Number, 1944), and the Atlantic City Board of Trade The Mayor's message read in part:—
"As Mayor of the City of Atlantic City and speaking for all
our people I join the local chapter through its delegates, William A Dart, Esq., and Dr C M Cain, in extending to the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity a most cordial invitation to hold your 1948 convention in our city."
Brother Cain, who served as General Chairman of the 1944 Convention, planned and successfully carried out the 1946 Eastern Regional Conference as General Conference Chairman, is expected to head up activities for the 1948 Session for the host chapter, Alpha Alpha Lambda He can be reached for information by writing the Artie Avenue Y.M.C.A., 1711 Artie Avenue, Atlantic City, New Jersey A full feature story will be done on Brother Cain in the Education Number of the SPHINX
Sphinx Staff Members Chapter Associate Editors, and other contributors are urgently requested to send in all their reports to the Sphinx Office not later than April 10th, deadline date for the EDUCATIONAL NUMBER.
Lewis O. Swindler
Sphinx Editor
Office of Brother Bennie D. Brown. Executive Secretary is 3456 S Slate St., Chicago 16, 111
From page 13
we can't get results by appeals to principle, let us talk in language they understand—in the language of box office dollars Other groups have found it possible to get results from these profit mad moguls It is time for our counter-offensive. An Industry truly interested in the dramatic arts, in the defense of American liberty, and in legitimate box office receipts can find no richer source of material than in the successful struggles of groups of Negro citizens and individual Negro leaders
The fight against the House un-American Committee and all Congressmen who abuse their powers is a major battle for all Americans, White and Negro.
Many of you remember the war-time activities of one Andrew J May, a Congressman from Kentucky You remember that he used his powers as Chairman of the House Military Affairs Committee for private profit But the act of Andrew Mav's which was far mored able, the act for which he was not convicted in court nor even in the public press, came at the oeak of the war The few dollars of profiteering for which he was sentenced caused the people no irreparable harm Eut his actions in stopping the distribution to troops of scientific material to combat prejudice—specifically the pamphlet "Races of Mankind" was a crime of enormous implications
Such abuses of power are all to fre-
quent Some are publicized: many more go by virtually unnoticed They are the truly subversive, un-American activities —When I speak of taking the offensive, I mean that we must pin the label of subversive where it properly belongs We must pin it on the Rankins, Coxes, and the others who breed prejudice and defend segregation and discrimination THEY ARE THE ENEMIES IN
MIDST
The New Deal Administrations were accused by the Southern Poll-taxers of going beyond the Southern doctrine of "Gradualism" in helping to improve the living conditions of the Negro people By comparison with our needs at this period of history, the New Deal record looks like "Gradualism" itself.
In reviewing our record and in charting a course for a more successful and productive future, we must recognize tl t the problems of the Negro people are fundamentally the problems of all workers farmers, small businessmen, and professional people We must recognize that the problems of the South are vital problems of the entire nation. We have known these facts, we have spoken them. Eut too often we have acted as though they were problems ssparate and apart
It is four score and seven years ago since we were forced to act upon the fundamental premise that this nation could not survive half-slave and half free Today we must act upon the equally fundamental p emise that a strong aid democratic America cannot be built while that one-third of our people who live in the
Brother Dr Lafayette M Harris, president of Philander Smith College Little Rock, Arkansas, gives remarks on behalf of his fellow administrators in the field of education. He is seen speaking at the Closed Banquet
Now in his twelfth year as president of Philander Smith Brother Harris is one of more than a score of Alpha Brothers who head educational institutions Both he and Brother Dr Karl Downs president of Samuel Huston College, Austin Texas, put in their convention appearances on the last day of the session
McGEE CUP WINNER . . . Beta Lambda chapter. Greater Kansas City, for the third consecutive year has been adjudged winner of the McGee Memorial Cup, named in honor of the Late Brother L L McGee whoserved Alpha as Vice-President, President and Editor of the Sphinx
Beta Lambda's record of achievement is contained in scrap book, one of the bases for judging all cup awards. Brother Dan W. Lewis, of Kansas City, Kansas, retiring president of the chapter, is shown with cup and scrap book Original McGee Cup is now in permanent possession of Alpha Tau Lambda, Tulsa, Okla.
Other cup awards were won by Alpha Rho Chapter, Morehouse, Metal Arts; and Alpha Delta Lambda Chapter, Memphis, Tennessee, Allen-Ferguson Citations were given to Alpha Beta, Talladega College, and Beta Nu, Florida A and M, State College, as sccu: d and third winners in the undergraduate division
"We just had to come." both said Other college presidents at the convention were Dr William H Gray Jr. president of Florida A & M State College. and Southern Vice President; Dr. Henry Lake Dickason president of Bluefield State College, and Chairman of the Committee on Standards; Dr H Councill Trenholm president of Alabama State Teachers College, and Director of Education: and Dr Robert P Daniel, president of Shaw University, pnd Chairman of the Budget Committee south, Negroes and whites alike, remain the common victims of an oppressive economic political and social system It is a system which bears a striking resemblance to the hated fascism we so recently fought a war to destroy IT, TOO, MUST BE UPROOTED
The problems of the Negro people lie at the very heart of the problem of the South; and the problems of the South are basic to the critical problems of our entire nation
The problem of John Rankin is not a
problem for the south alone It is certainly not a problem for Negro southerners alone Rankin is the enemy of the entire nation He holds a powerful se3t in congress by virtue of very few thousand votes In that seat he has the opportunity to pervert his congressional powers to the detriment of the entire nation
Is the Attorney General truly interested in cataloguing subversive organizations and individuals? I doubt it But, if he is, he might head his list with the cabal of Southern congressmen and their backers who maintain Jim Crow and attack the fundamental rights of all Americans to free speech and assemb'y and free ballots
The dangerous disease of race hate, which bears so heavily upon Negro citizens and at the same time drags the masses of southern white citizens into the common quagmire of poverty and ignorance and political servitude is not an isolated problem to be attacked completely apart from our other national problems. It is part of an ever more dominant philosophy of dollars above men, of property values over human values The Jim Crow system pt.ys handsome profits to a small number of men in positions of economic and political power Jim Crow divides white and Negro for the profit of the few It is a very profitable system, indeed
We have only to examine the wages paid to white and Negro workers in southern agriculture and industry to see how profitable this system is We find, of course, that Negro workers receive many millions of dollars less pay than the same number of white men doing similar jobs But that is only part of the profits from Jim Crow We look further and find that southern white workers receive far lower wages than their brothers in the north It is then that we get some measure of the tremendous fortunes which are wrung out of the hides of white workers by a system which divides Negro and white and increases the exploitation of both.
American trade unions must be strengthened for they are trying to fight Jim Crow Jim Crowism puts many millions of extra dollars every year into the pockets of the owners and rulers of the south It is "good business" for the few; but it means ignorance, disfranchisement, poverty, undernourishment, disease, terror, and death for many
During the past decade, because of the war and other emergencies, we have pulled our punches in the fight against the money changers and monopolists. F. D R waged that fight, magnificently and successfully in the middle thirties: and it is a fight which must be resumed. The war-time recess in this fight is part of the reason for our failure to make headway in the fight against Jim Crow. The fight against monopoly dominance is at the very core of the fight to abolish segregation The extended armistice in the fight against monopoly has delayed the end of colonial rule over the south We have known that those who profit from the traffic in human misery in the south are not exclusively southerners We have known that the big wall street interests dominate the southern economy. We have known that our fight for justice in the south is doomed to fail un-
any
for the past ten years or
water is seen in a typical pose as
of Tulsa, Okla
The Tulsa Convention turned out to be the "first log" of a honeymoon trip for Brother Atwater He and Mrs Atwater continued their journey to Mexico
less we carry the bigger fight We must act on this knowledge
As we take the offensive to lick jim crow, we must keep our eyes on the principal opposition—the big interests for whom Jim Crow is profitable We must not be distracted into fights against their other victims, their tools—the prejudiced and bigoted workers and farmers and small business people who have been so warped by their economic masters that they do not respond to principled appeals We must talk to these sad victims in language they understand. If they see a clear picture of the concentration of economic power in wall street, if they see clearly all wall street's domination of Washington; and if they can be made to see the high day-to-day cost they pay for a system of Jim Crow, we shall win strong allies in our fight against Jim Crow The freedom of all workers, farmers, small businessmen, and professional people, north and south, white and Negro, rests on our fight to destroy Jim Crow In waging our fight we must, I repeat, concentrate on the sources of trouble and not perpetuate divisions between workers and others The peace of the world depends in no small measure on a suc-
cessful fight here at home to make American practices conform to American principles
The full democratic power of our government must be used to enlarge and protect the lives and liberties of those millions, both white and Negro, who are now the common victims of Jim Crow
The new session of Congress must take positive steps to extend to all the people of the south their Constitutional right to vote, regardless of race, creed, or economic status The whole net-work of devices by which the masses of common people in the south are kept from the polls must be utterly and completely destroyed We can't demand free elections in the Balkans and be passive about restrictions to suffrage here at home It is time for the president to use the power and influence of his office to help win free elections for the people of the South
The department of Justice must use its full resources to put a stop to the whole bagful of tricks by which southern registrars and other officials deny Negro citizens the right to vote
The Republican party, controlling the present congress, must be reminded of Turn the Page
TRIUMPH OF FRIENDSHIP
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity provided a national setting that accentuated a life-long friendship of two young men who are making distinctive contributions in their respective fields They were Brother Dr John Hope Franklin, now faculty member at Howard University, and Dr Hobart S Jarrett, of the Langston University faculty staff, both products of the Tulsa, Oklahoma Public School System '
Brother Franklin is shown introducing his former high school schoolmate as guesi speaker at the Annual Alpha Closed Banquet Program Brother Jarrett, guest speaker, is seen at right end The former holds the Doctorate from Harvard University, and is noted as a historian The latter has distinguished himself in the field of Literature, and is a candidate for the Doctorate Degree.
Master of ceremonies was another prominent Oklahoman, Brother Dr. J. S. Chandler, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, (seated, left end) and named "Alpha Man of the Year by his chapter, Beta Chi Lambda
From page 35 its 1944 convention pledge to outlaw the poll tax barrier to free elections in America
1948 election must see th:i greatest outpouring of Southern white and Negro voters in all our history It will take immense courage to challenge Jim Crow, but the time to strike is N O W.
The time has come to demand action from the Bi-Partisan Coalition which is so concerned with freedom abroad and so oblivious to the needs for greater freedom at home. It is time for action to defend Americans at home Such action is more essential to the maintenance of peace than the defense of American corporations abroad
The admirable report of the special committee on civil rights is not action; it is no more than a welcome prelude to
action It must not be pigeon-holed We need no further investigations—we didn't need this one—to know that a federal anti-lynch law is a necessity The time is long past when we liberal Americans can be pacified with renorts and promises of action
Our readiness to accept reports in place of action is one of the big reasons for our failure to be fully effective in the fight against Jim Crow. Lynchings, serving to intimidate Negro Americans, may be useful to those who would keep some of our people submerged; BUT NONE OF THEM DARE DEFEND LYNCHING OPENLY
The contention that a federal anti-lynch law violates states rights has no validity The power of our federal government is used to interfere in the internal affairs of half the countries in the world; it can certainly be used to defend Americans at home
Poll taxes and lynch law are only two
of the hateful devices used to maintain Jim Crow which must be completely destroyed. No less important is positive action to enlarge and equalize the educational opportunities of American children—especially in the south
We cannot rest easily with a shameful picture you know better than I—The picture of dilapidated and barren Negro school houses in most of the rural South: the poorly paid teachers, the extremely meager—or non-existent—school transportation facilities; the scores of southern counties where there are absolutely no high school facilities for Negroes, and the severely limited and substandard college and professional facilities. We can't rest with that picture and the almost equally sordid picture of the educational facilities for white children in much of the south
That great historic hoax called "SEPARATE BUT EQUAL" Negro schools must be ended. There is not. and there never can be, equality of educational opportunity in a system of segregated schools This system is not only an impossible drain on the financial resources of the south, but it is a system which is intended to deliberately maintain suspicion and hatred between Negro and white and to keep the masses of both people in virtual ignorance. The Supreme Court, as well as the Congress, must discard the doctrine of SUBSTANTIAL EQUALITY
I realize full well that the administration of public education in the states is beyond the scope of federal legislative control But the federal government can and must make tremendous contributions toward enlarging and equalizing educational opportunities through appropriations to the states. Such grants-aidsmust be made under a plan sufficiently rigid to prevent discrimination Many a white American, eager to help the Negro people, has insisted that Education is essential Some have used "Lack of Education" as an excuse for present atrocious conditions; with others it is a genuine belief of the need for greater education. In any case, all proponents of more education must be enlisted in the fight tor adequate federal aid From an administration which demands an annul expenditure of two billion dollars for outrageous program of compulsory military training we must demand the dollars which can enlarge and equalize educational opportunities in the south and in rural areas in other sections of the nation
The abolition of the educational props to Jim Crow must be accompanied by an end to the widespread employment discriminations, which now bar millions of Negroes, Jews, Catholics, and foreignborn Americans from decent jobs
During the war, under Franklin Roosevelt, our federal government began a serious attack, upon the problem of discrimination in employment The vital and struggling fair employment practice committee did heroic work in opening up job opportunities But now, like so much that Roosevelt fought hard to build, the FEPC has been allowed to die—almost without a struggle. Peace-time employment is reverting again to the widespread discrimination on ground of nice, creed, and national origin
President Truman did, indeed, ask the
Congress for permanent FEPC legislation Yet no observer on capitol hill has seen the power which the administration can command thrown into a serious fight to guarantee the adoption of a permanent FEPC law Nor, indeed, has any action been taken to combat the job discrimination which exists under the President's nose in the administrative departments of government. The thousands of Negro federal employees, who held good jobs during the war are rapidly disappearing from the scene. There are many federal agencies which have become notorious for their job discrimination against Negro workers.
I have said many times—and I say again—that the President does not have to wait upon congress to correct this sorrid condition If he can proclaim socalled "Loyalty Oath" wich-hunts against civil service workers who show the least tinge of progressive thought then he can, if he really wants to, proclaim an executive order barring discrimination in federal employment
I would remind you, too of another broken platform pledge solemnly proclaimed at the republican convention in 1944 It was the promise to pass permanent FEPC legislation if the republicans got control of congress They now have such control
It is obvious I think, that we—both white and Negrc-^-have pulled loo many punches in our past fights against Jim Crow This must stop We have every moral principle and every economic and soeial fact on our side There is no reason to compromise or relent in the fight against Jim Crow.
There is a particularly hateful expression, used innocently at times by many white Americans—it is a line about the "Great White Hope." I say to you and to those who speak of WHITE HOPES that the true while hope is a well-organized, intelligently-directed Negro minority fighting for full justice The measure of success or failure of American democracy can be found at all times in the conditions of our organizations—fraternal, social, economic, and political— have greater powers than they have ever used I beg of you—do not compromise You are indebted to no one for the crumbs of justice you have been thrown Gratitude should be reserved for genuine favors; not idly bestowed for simple justice
As we enter one of the most critical years in world history, we must overcome our weaknesses in order to fight successfully We must distinguish between words and deeds:
"What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and in lack of daily food, and one of you say unto them go in peace, be ye warm and filled; and yet he give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit? Faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself." (James)
Before I take leave of this audience— and in thanking Alpha Phi Alpha for the opportunity to address you—let me say that I am haunted by a single, grim fact pulled out of dry statistics as I prepared an address some months back: It is the fact that a Negro child born
this day has a life expectancy ten years less than that of a white child born a few miles away
I say that these ten years—then ten extra years for millions of Americans are what we are fighting for I say that those who stand in the way of the health, education, housing and social security programs which would erase that gap commit murder. I say that those who perpetuate Jim Crow are criminals I pledge you that I shall fight them with everything I have
From page 15 ALVIN BRIDGES
Gamma Theta Chapter Dayton, Ohio
I think too much time was lost in debating different points that were immaterial Other than that, a considerable
Turn the Page
INSPIRING BANQUET ADDRESS. Notwithstanding the handicap of speaking after a hectic election which marked the climax to the regular business session at the Thirty-third General Convention, Brother Dr. Hobart Jarrett, of the Langston University faculty, held his audience with one of the most scholarly and inspiring messages delivered recently at an Alpha Phi Alpha conclave He is seen at the Banquet Program speaking on the topic, "Servants of All."
"I have enjoyed speaking to a Fraternity whose ideals are comprised of the noble, the true, the courageous," concluded Dr Jarrett, who is a native of Oklahoma, and resident of Tulsa
volume of work was done to improve the Fraternity
B. J. CRUTCHER
ALPHA UPSILON LAMBDA
Montgomery, Alabama
"Registered Monday and was certified Tuesday, December 30, 1947 as delegate from Alpha Upsilon Lambda. Second time to attend a General Convention and was much impressed with the stream-lined procedure in conducting the affairs of the Convention Noticed that the time consuming speech making "third, fourth, and fifth second-thenominations" had lost its punch Yet there was something which kept us from touring Tulsa as scheduled I wanted to see Tulsa At the next convention, limit a delegate to express himself on each un-readiness one time only
"The Convention gave us a full-time Secretary, revised Ritual, new Constitution, a fifth Vice Presidential District, and I feel that more could not have
been accomplished at a convention Host committee treated us royally
CHARLES
F. LANE
GENERAL COUNSEL
Chicago, Illinois
There is no doubt that the Tulsa Convention will be recorded in our Fraternity history as the most eventful of all The election of a full-time secretary, a decision to become associatee with other fraternities and sororities in a worthwhile project, and the innovation of having Henry A. Wallace scheduled to speak at the public meeting, with a mixed audience in the South, have indelibly marked the Tulsa Convention as one long to be remembered
Those who have heard so much of Southern hospitality were able to learn the true meaning The visiting Brothers were treated as house guests, in most homes, rather than roomers The Convention Committee deserves much praise for the manner in which they
ELOQUENT RESPONSE
Brother Attorney Sidney A Jones, Jr., of Chicago, as he eloquently responded to inspiring Banquet Address from Brother Dr Hobart S Jarrett, of Langston University
One of the most outstanding young menof Alphadom, Brother Jones has for many years given unselfish service to this organization He is a Past Midwestern Vice-President, member of the Sphinx Staff, and Chairman of the Constitutional Committee He spent most of histime at the Tulsa convention in committee sessions. This young stalwart Alpha brother deserves a real salute.
planned and executed every detail of the convention
PETER W DAUTERIVE
ALPHA DELTA CHAPTER
Los Angeles, California
Since this was the first convention that I have attended, a statement on a comparative basis cannot be made But I cannot help but feel that the convention was a terrific success; and that Alpha Phi Alpha is, beyond a doubt, taking its rightful place in the "Hellenic Sun." I consider it one of the outstanding experiences in my life to have had the privilege of attending
(Brother Dauterive was elected as the first Lay Councilman of the newly created Far Western Jurisdiction)
LIONEL CADE
ALPHA DELTA CHAPTER
Los Angeles, California
It has been said that first impressions are lasting impressions This, I hope, is true As a Brother attending his first Alpha Convention, I received an impression worthy of being preserved; one long to remember! Achievement, interest, and brotherhood, were present each day
Encouraging is the assurance of Brothers that these factors are present at all Alpha Conventions This I shall see However, if this impression be colored with awe and newness, I'll take the Tulsa Convention until the real thing comes along
GEORGE BELL
OMICRON LAMBDA CHAPTER
The convention was a tribute to the untiring efforts of the Brothers in Tulsa As a convention veteran, I can attest to this fact There were just enough social diversions that crept in to relieve any boredom The next convention should be more peaceful in that some grave problems have now been solved
The Brothers of the Southern Jurisdiction as usual were in evidence both by their numbers and by their participation in the deliberations of the convention We are always around Try and keep Regional Director A L Allen quiet
My thinking is that our policy of reclamation should concentrate on our saving the recent graduates of our Fraternity We are losing too many fine young men who, upon finishing college fail to affiliate with some graduate chapters We need to emphasize Brother Emory Smith's dictum, "Alpha Phi Alpha for life."
Brother Lawson's presentation of Henry A Wallace (in absentia) was so masterly that momentarily we who were not in the know expected him to stride out from the wings of the auditorium at any moment
It was a good convention We'll see you in Atlantic City comes December
Turn to page 64 s
From page 20 and brotherhood are not unlike their fair-skinned counterparts when they get seriously into the business of class bitterness and caste system
Christianity has been tried during the past twenty centuries under every possible kind of government and in every
type of economic order, but no single one of them can boast of superior accomplishments in the process of absorbing and practicing it
The simple point of all this is merely that changing the form of our government or economic system is not the in-
dicated therapy We have got to know more about the patient
The productive power and wealth of
this nation have been achieved under the capitalistic system. In this economy Turn the Page
the Negro finds himself cast principally in the role of worker Neither as individuals in substantial numbers nor as a group do we contribute to or participate to any appreciable degree in the nation's economy
Although in numbers the Negro population is roughly one-tenth of the whole, we are an impotent factor in the industrial and commercial might of our country
Just prior to the war there were more than 184,000 separate manufacturing establishments in the country, employing almost eight million wage earners. These plants consumed thirty-two billion dollars worth of raw materials and produced nearly fifty-seven billions in finished products Only a fraction of one per cent of this productive might was controlled or owned by members of our race
In the United States there are more than 236,000 miles of railroad tracks over which 450 million passengers were
carried last year But the control, and all but a token share of ownership of this vast network of rail transportation —the largest and most efficient in the world—are in the hands of the other group
Only a few days ago, the newspapers reported that the U S Automobile Industry would produce this year more than five million automobiles and trucks. This is a tremendous and staggering volume of motor vehicles, particularly when it is remembered that in 1900— less than fifty years ago—the embryo automobile industry produced only 4.192 units, valued at something less than five million dollars By 1942 there were 4,800,000 automobiles and trucks manufactured with a total value of Three Billion, Seven Hundred Million Dollars. The ownership and control of this powerful productive machine was the almost exclusive business of whites There is One Hundred and Fifty-five Billion Dollars of insurance in force in
From left, front row.—Brother Charles Tarpley, president, Alpha Delta Lambda Chapter, Memphis; Mrs C M Roulhac (formerly of Philadelphia); Brother Marvin Tarpley, secretary
this country, but the insurance companies owned and managed by Negroes have accounted for less than one per cent of that amount.
Perhaps the largest single manufacturing operation conducted by Negroes is the Negro Press For the process of creating complete, salable newspapers from raw newsprint and ink is in fact a manufacturing process Among the 200-odd Negro newspapers are a halfdozen with net paid circulation exceeding 50,000 copies per issue, and each doing a gross business of over a quartermillion dollars yearly Three of these papers do an estimate gross business of over a million dollars a year each, and one of them has a circulation of better than 250.000 copies And yet this is a mere token participation by Negroes in the extensive publishing business of the nation
And so it goes! But then this inquiry leads us to an equally perplexing and Turn to page 42
Thomas
of
Chris M Roulhac Jr., former LeMoyne College Ail-American grid star and presently coach at Albany State College, Ga.; Sphinx Editor L O Swingler; Dr Williams (Swingler and Williams charter members of Beta Beta Chapter 1927); and George Hollis, principal, Richard B Harrison high school, Blytheville, Arkansas, and member of Alpha Delta Lambda
By LaSalle D. Leffall. Jr.
Brother George Hosea Rawls was born June 2, 1928 at Gainesville, Florida His parents are Mr and Mrs Nicholas O Rawls, Sr He attended the Lincoln High School in Gainesville, Florida Maintaining an enviable record in high school, he was the valedictorian of his graduating senior class
Brother Rawls' versatility can be shown by the fact that he was a member of the high school football, basketball and soft ball teams, a member of the Student Council, an actor in school plays, baritone in the high school choir, and artist and reporter for the school paper
After graduating from Lincoln High School in Gainesville, Florida, Brother Rawls entered the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College at Tallahassee, Florida in September, 1945 During his freshman year, he made many friends and was well-liked by everyone because of his charming personality He was the only freshman to maintain a straight "A" average for the 1945-46 school term Because of his great potentialities and his not being ostentatious he was elected the president of the sophomore class and Editor-in-Chief of the FAMCEAN, the school paper, at the culmination of his freshman year At the er.d of the first semester of his freshman year Brother Rawls became a member of the Sphinx Club Then too, during his initial year in college, he affiliated himself with the Sunday School and the Sigma Tau Mu Debating Society
To make the organizations which he headed functional and successful, Brother Rawls put forth arduous and earnest efforts when lie returned to school He was initiated into Beta Nu Chapter of Alpha
Anne
and
was special guest at a number of the social affairs in Tulsa during the General Convention The lovely lady appears here in a regal setting at the Closed Alpha Formal
Phi Alpha Fraternity November 16, 1946 He immediately assumed grave responsibilities to make Beta Nu surge forward He was selected as Beta Nu's "Brother of the Year" because of his active participation in diversified campus activities and his willingness to make Beta Nu a greater chapter and Florida A and M a greater college Likewise, during the year, he made several trips with the debating society which filled his already rich life with new, fresh experiences He was Beta Nu's delegate to the National Convention held in Columbus, Ohio in December 1946 At the end of the school year, he was elected president of the junior class and re-elected Editor-inChief of the FAMCEAN.
Brother George Rawls was Beta Nu Chapter's nominee for the "Alpha Man of the Year" title He was selected as the "Alpha Man of the Year" at the 33rd national convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma Brother Rawls is the first Alpha Man to
receive such an honor He was chosen as the "Alpha Man of the Year" because of his earnest participation in the activities of the following organizations: 1 VicePresident, Beta Nu Chapter 2 Chairman of "Clean-up-Week" campaign 3 President Sigma Tau Mu Debating Society 4 Second Vice-President NAACP 5 Editorin-Chief college paper 6 Assistant Superintendent of the Sunday School, member of Y M C A., and member of Christian Federation 7 Member of Student Council 8 First Lieutenant of College Battalion 9 College highest average student 10 Member of Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society 11 Delegate to 32nd General Convention 12 President of junior class 13 "Brother of the Year" of Beta Nu Chapter 14 Winner of highest average award for 1947. 15. Delegate to Che General Convention at Tulsa. Member of National Constitution Committee of Alpha Phi Alpha 17 Member of Ritual Committee of Alpha Phi Alpha.
From page 40 disturbing series of questions: Shall we continue trying to weave our lives into the fabric of the present American political, social and economic order? Should we have faith further in the American form o£ government and way of life? Or, should we conclude that for our purposes the system is a failuie? Stiould we, having concluded that, determine to direct all of our futuie energies toward effecting a subsumtial change?
1 ask these questions not for the purpose of appearing profound in giving what to most of you will be considered obvious answers But I put these queries because there is a disturbing and considerable flavor of sentiment in the Other diiection A surprisingly large number of our group is being swept along by a tide of so-called liberal or "progressive'' thought which I think they really do not understand It manifests itself more like a religion than like political or social exploration. Its disciples are in deadly earnest, and they will smear any who question the wisdom of their program with nasty epithets like "handkerchief head" or "Uncle Tom" or just plain "fascist." I came to this convention fully conditioned for such treatment, and quite honestly I expect that someone among my listeners will, before I finish my remarks—if, indeed, he hasn't already done so, call me a fascist. However, the application of that opprobrium to any sane Negro is further evidence of the unreasoning mind of those who apply it
A little closer look at some of the bedfellows we find ourselves cohabiting with in this struggle for full emancipation will reveal some collateral objectives that I don't think we as a race can afford to embrace. An ally who boldly and bravely takes up the cudgel in our behalf might do our cause irreparable damage if the alliance commits us innocently or knowingly, to participate in activities striking at the security of the nation
One of these which I contest is that the cause of the Negro race is identical to that of workers, farmers, and "small business" operators Acceptance of that theory would deliver 13.000.000 Negroes in one consignment to those who seek to enlist the vast hordes of working people in a sort of class war against the group, far inferior in numbers, which owns and manages the productive machinery of the country
It should come rather as an insult to our intelligence for any person to tell us that every Negro, no matter what his interests, his position or his aspirations, must join the organized campaign to destroy capitalism in this country and invert the economic pyramid so that control of the labor and the wealth of the land rests then in the hands of the self-appointed representatives of the working classes
No. our salvation is not in destroying the system of free enterprise, not in stripping the capitalists of their wealth, not in taking the management of our industrial machine away from those most able to manage It is rather in
getting a few more Negroes into the capitalist class and into the ranks of management Our race lacks almost entirely the economic weapon which otner minority groups have used so effectively to combat discriminations wnen we have more jobs at our disposal to give, we will have that many lewer thai we will have to beg for
I agree that the Negro laboring man should and must ally himself with the white working man to advance their mutual interests
But this economic double-talk which has so many otherwise intelligent people among us believing that all Negroes, enmasse, ought to take up the fight to invert our economic order is more than faulty thinking; it is outright dangerous
Similarly, we ought to regard with some suspicion that element which, after apparently adopting our case for full equality as its shibboleth, begins talking about destroying Wall Street, and gets us emotionally agitated with weird stories about the way the capitalists and big business are at the root of all our race troubles I think we ought to look a little further into the real purposes of those people, and ask them point blank what they are up to
Wall Street may be the enemy of some other faction, but is not per se the Negro's enemy I say to you quite solemnly and sincerely that I believe our best interests will be served not by destroying it, but by moving a few more Negroes onto Wall Street.
Another ally we have acquired tells us that our salvation will result from the organization of all the vast millions of working people into trade unions, and that therefore the Negro ought blindly and faithfully throw his strength behind the trade union movement. I think we ought to ask these people how they plan to use the potent political force created by 60,000.000 working people organized into trade unions and carefully indoctrinated with the right kind of economic dogma And I'd tell them to do a little cleaning up within before asking the entire bloc of 13 million Negroes to embrace the movement
Some unions have done a great deal to help the Negro's economic position, and they ought to be encouraged and supported But others are guilty of practicing some of the most vicious discriminations against the race andpractices which amount to economic stiangulation
In all of the South, and a major part of the rest of the country, a Negro cannot learn to be a carpenter, bricklayer, plumber, electrician or machinist, and if he already knows the trade, he cannot get a job working at it simply because the AFL craft unions which control the nation's work force in those trades with the instrumentality of the closed shop, say quite bluntly and unashamedly that these jobs are for whites only, and by constitutional restrictions and open practice deny membership to Negroes
In all but a few large cities in the North where Negroes hold token membership, the powerful typograhical pressmen's and stereotypers' unions maintain a "white only" monopoly of newspaper plant jobs by virtue of the closed shop and by flatly denying mem-
bership to Negro printers, pressmen and stereotypers One of the bitter ironies of the five-week old printers strike in Chicago which is in plain, simple language nothing but a fight-to-the finish on the closed shop provisions of the Taft-Hartley Law — the Negro printers of the CHICAGO DEFENDER were called out on strike against that militant champion of Negro progress and rights, to support the union's antiNegro closed shop policy
We have just won an important Supreme Court victory in the legal battle to save the few firemen s jobs held by Negroes on the nation's railroads Tom Tunstall wasn't fired from his job because the capitalistic railroad management didn't want to employ Negroes. He was fired because the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and all the other operating brotherhoods, which monopolize railroad jobs through the closed shop, not only deny membership in their unions to Negroes, but forced the railroads to sign agreements providing for the liquidation of all Negroes from firemen's jobs which they had held on the southern roads for decades
The endorsement without reservation of trade unions which the Negro is asked to give means putting our stamp of approval also on such undemocratic practices which reduce the Negro to economic slavery
And yet they are just a few of the incongruities that result when we liedown indiscriminately with bedfellows who seek to win all of our 13 million Turn to page 64 s
From page 23 persons and organizations as perhaps spearheads in the success of the Convention:
Brother Tollie W Harris, General Chairman, and all members of the Host Chapters
Lee Price, Mayor cf Tulsa, and the City Commissioners
Brother A M:iceo Smith, Western Vice President
Brother L H Williams, Regional Director
Brother A Wayman Ward
Brother Dr Henry Allen Boyd
The Greenwood Chamber of Commerce
The Tulsa Chamber of Commerce
The First Baptist Church and Rev C K. Stalnaker
Tiie Greater Union Baptist Church and Rev D C Cooksey
Host Chapters—Co-Host Chapters
The Tulsa Board of Education, Brother C L Cole and the Faculty of Carver Junior High School
The Pan-Hellenic Council of Tulsa
The Press of Tulsa, Oklahoma Fraternally submitted, Dr Charles M Thompson, Xi Lambda, Chicago, Illinois
F O Woodard, Alpha Epsilon Lambda, Jackson, Miss
Thaddeus Hobbs, Gamma Xi, Los Angeles, Calif
Felix T Warren, Alpha Iota Lambda, Charleston, W Va
Lewis A H Caldwell, Xi Lambda, Chicago, Illinois, Chairman December 31, 1947
From page 27 familiar with the mechanisms through which justice may be attained
Secondly, we charge our fraternity to profess an abiding faith in all mankind to such an extent that the wounds of the world will be the responsibilities of Alpha, and the progress of all peoples will be the joys of Alpha The passing of the motion in the Chicago Convention which made Alpha Phi Alpha a fraternity for all mankind was a milestone in human relations And it is the hope of the undergraduate brothers that this fraternity will forever remain a melting pot of the world
The lake of petty snobbishness on which many chapters on college and university campuses now float must be drained and dried forever Alpha has no time for such trivial and mediocre practices We have a serious job to do Hence we charge the undergraduates to inaugurate programs dynamic in nature and to produce men profound in character Then the world will proclaim the superiority of our fraternity on the basis of our achievements
And in our continuous battle for freedom let us not restrict our efforts to our immediate localities; but in our thinking let us include the problems of India, South Africa, Europe snd oppression wherever the "monster" dares to raise its head. When we elevate our thinking to the "One World" level, we lose sight of our immediate differences and boundaries and work for the common good of all races, all nations, all religions, all peoples This type of program Alpha must lead
And if the previous discussion is to be carried out effectively, if "Manly deeds, Scholarship, and Love for All Mankind," are to be perpetuated, then Alpha Phi Alpha must of necessity develop its young brothers who yet reside in the many colleges and universities throughout the nation in order that they may be able to think clearly and act positively, and thus eventually shoulder the multitudinous responsibilities and tasks under which our contemporary noble officers now labor.
The dangerous and wide chasm between the undergraduate chapters and the General Organization must be filled. As a result of this unfortunate division intensive reclamation campaigns are necessary After graduating from college, many brothers find themselves completely uninterested in the programs of xhe General Organization, and the local graduate chapters And they, too, are usually unfinancial with both organizations Many of these delinquent brothers were undergraduates to whom Alpha had no meaning outside the local college chapter to which they belonged The implications are that we are growing into two distinct fraternities—an undergraduate fraternity and a graduate fraternity. This, my brothers, must never happen; and yet it is. Alpha must become and remain one unified, strong, and composite organization Hence in order to achieve the desired end—a more powerful and potent fraternity—we must close ranks We must more thoroughly integrate the undergraduate brothers into the operations of the General Organization
The policy inaugurated by Brother
EUROPE-BOUND
By William O Cain
Alpha brothers aboard S S Marine Jumper, bound for Europe on various missions Picture was made la"st July, 1947 Left to right:
Brother Leigh Skipper, Xi Chapter, Wilberforce University, representing the United Student Christian Council He was headed for Oslo, Norway, to attend World Conference for Christian Youth; then to Sweden to the World Student Christian Federation
Brother Lester Florant, formerly of Beta Chapter, Howard University, presently of Epsilon, University of Michigan He was going to University of Oslo, Norway, for the summer as an Exchange Student
Brother Robert Bass, Beta Pi Chapter, Lane College, representing the C.M.E Church Bound for World Conference at Oslo for Christian Youth
Brother James Jordon, president, Omicron, University of Pittsburgh, representing the N.I.C.C going to Oslo, Norway for the World Conference for Christian Youth, and also representing the Student Christian Movement at the World Student Christian Federation in Sweden.
Brother John Buckner, Epsilon Lambda, St Louis, Mo., representing the Y.M.C.A National Council at the World Conference in Sweden, and Youth in Oslo, Norway, then to Y.M.C.A. Conference in Sweden, and finally to the World Alliance of Y.M. CA.'s in Edinburgh, Scotland
Lawson of presenting an undergraduate as one of the principal convention speakers is a phenomenal step in the direction of familiarizing the graduate brothers with the type of thinking their younger brothers are doing Simultaneously, the appearance of the Regional Director, the Southern Vice-President, and the General President in Atlanta, Ga in the spring of 1946 was also an effective attempt to bring the General Organization to the local chapters
The incidents alluded to, we deem necessary in rejuvenating the spirit of Alpha among the undergraduate brothers And we hereby charge the elected General Officers to continue such practices as well as devise new means of bringing this great trinity, the undergraduates, the General Organization, and the graduates more closely together, thus weaving a stronger fraternity
To the undergraduates more operational responsibilities of the General Organization should be allotted But let us briefly qualify the statement We do not expect to be given full control of the convention, for we thoroughly realize that our minds are immature, and experience tremendously limited But if the proper guidance is given to the younger brothers, the fraternity will not be the
victim in years to come of inexperienced leadership
We recommend that the administrative responsibilities of another office or chairmanship in our General Organization be transferred to an undergraduate; or if this is impossible, we suggest that a new position be created delegating the administrative duties to an undergraduate
We submit our propositions to your thinking By so inaugurating them, more undergraduates will be familiarized and provided with a working knowledge of the General Organization and will not desert it in years to come. May we refer to the wisdom of Solomon: Train an Alpha man in the way he should grow; and when he grows old, he will not depart from it
And finally, brethren, may we, the many undergraduates who yet reside in the colleges and universities throughout the nation, again call upon Alpha Phi Alpha to diligently initiate a courageous and fearless program, to profoundly profess an implicit faith in ail mankind, and to superbly develop its undergraduate brothers For we are convinced that with the strength of the young and the experience of the old only the heavens may be our limits
MORTGAGE-BURNING CEREMONIES FOR THETA-XI LAMBDA Just seventeen days after the General Convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to which brothers from Chicago traveled in a chartered Pullman, representatives of the Theta-Xi Lambda Foundation. Chicago, hold mortgage-burning ceremonies marking the final payment of famous Alpha House on Chicago's Southside on Jan 17, 1948 Here officials and other members of the chapter look on just before mortgage goes up
smoke From left to right:—Seated; Atty Richard A Harwood, Dr Frank V Plummer, President of Theta Xi Lambda Foundation, Atty Oscar C Brown: Standing—Lawrence YoungSr., Atty Bindley C Cyrus, Claude Anderson, Secretary of the Foundation, Dr Luther Peck, Atty Charles F Lane, General Counsel, Atty Cleveland L Longmire and Dr Nelson C Glover, Treasurer
1918 ADMINISTRATION—At the January meeting the following Chapter Officiis were installed by Brother Dr F V Plummer: Atty Thomas Moore Clarke for a second term as president in appreciation for splendid service of last year: Penrose E. Goodall. sociologist and veteran army officer, as Secretary and Historian; Foraker L Turner, neophyte lawyer, as Vice President for a second time; William H Diffay, labor
relations expert, as Assistant Secretary: Atty Cleveland L Longmire as Treasurer; Rev Joseph W Miller as Chapter Chaplain and Dr E K "I Object" MacDonald as Sgt-At-Arms PROGRAM.—The chapter meets on the second Saturday in each month at 8:30 p. m. However, there is a proposal afoot to suspend meetings inthe vacation months of July and August. The standing committees for the new year will
be announced at the next Frat Meeting and in the Bulletin.
The proposed program for the year includes continuation of the scholarly seminars on the "Role of Fraternities in our Modern Society," led by Brother H Theodore Tatum; at least one joint meeting with the undergraduate chapter; one "Ole Tymers Nite;" one Fun and Frolic Nite and one outing at the Sunset Hills Country Club.
HISTORIC FIRE AT FRAT HOUSE.— On January 17, 1948, Theta and Xi Lambda Chapters celebrated the com-
On November 3 1946 a group of twelve Michigan State College men met in Lansing, Michigan tor the purpose of organizing a social club The organization was called "Gentlemen of State." and according to Article II, Section 1 of the subsequently adopted conplete ownership of their Fraternity House with a mortgage burning ceremony Approximately two hundred Brothers braved the Windy City Subzero weather to witness thia historic occasion
The evening's program consisted chiefly of speeches by the four past presidents of toe Theta Xi Lambda Foundation, an organization consisting of members of the two chapters which own and operates the Fraternity House Recordings on Disks were made of all speeches and the singing of the Alpha Hymn Several Brothers who own Cine Cameras were on hand to record the proceedings in moving pictures
Brother Dr Frank V Plummer, present President of the Foundation served as Mrster of Ceremony The Alpha Men in Chicago point to Brother Plummer with great pride, because he was one of the first men initiated into the Fraternity at Cornell, after it organized His service to Alpha Phi Alpha has continued since his initiation and his spirit has never waned Brother Oscar C. Brown, the first President of the Foundation was highly praised for his contribution to the development and progress of the House Having served as president of the Board for the first six years, his guiding hand and spirit carried the proposition through the darkest period When others contended that it could not be done, Broiher Brown was always ready, willing and able to prove that it could be done Brother Cleveland L Lonatmire, a partner of the Alpha Law Firm of Clarke, Longmire and Lane, was the second president of the Foundation Following in the footsteps of Brother Oscar C Brown Brother Longmire exhibited the qualities of leadership necessary lo carry on our venture successfully In his speech he recalled some of the obstacles which were to be overcome and the manner in which they were eliminated
The third past president of the Foundation, Brother Charles F Lane, who incidentally is also the General Counsel of Alpha Phi Alpha, related his experiences during his term of office He emphasized the fact that each Brother realized he could make a contribution in his own way and according to his own capabilities, and he pointed out that Brother Nelson Glover had been treasurer of the Foundation for the full thirteen years of its existence: that Brother Vernon Gordon had served as secretary for ten years, and that success was due to cooperation and team work For a number of years Brother Lane contributed much to the Foundation by raising funds which were sorely needed, and he too has been a member of the Board of Directors since the inception of the Foundation
Brother Luther "Hit the Ball" Peek, who was the fourth past president, won resounding applause from the Brothers with his dynamic speech Brother Peck
stitution, "The purpose of this organization shall be to p.ovidc a medium for social activities lor the male students of Michigan Stale College."
In the minds of many of the men there assembled, was the idea of using Turn the Page
acquired the cognomen as indicated during his term of office by his continuous use of the expression "Hit the Ball." His cnlhusiasm for any movement sponsored by the chapters has always been to the highest degree Brother Laurence T Young, Sr„ the first secretary of the Foundation, who now has a son in Alpha Phi Alpha, expressed his joy for having been ible to make a contribution to such a worthy cause
Theta and Xi Lambda Chapters have demonstrated that a Fraternity Hous; is a valuable asset in maintaining the Alpha spirit, and reclaiming Alpha men, which is a vital factor in the National Organization It is our hope that other chapters will become Frat House conscious, but in doing so will realize that only hard work, financial sacrifice and cooperation will lead to success.
PLANS — A rehabilitation plan was announced and inaugurated immediately following the mortgage burning ceremony In its final materialization, the house will provide dormitory quarters for approximately two dozen deserving under-graduate Brothers on the third floor Kitchen, Dining Room and smill Salon-Parlor will be located on the second floor Large assembly room suitable for seating all of the three hundred odd Brothers will be located on the first floor
Two Bowling Alleys Billiard Table Ping Pong Table Lockers and Bar will be housed in the basement Architect Brothers Neal and Thornton have indicated to the Board of Directors that some of the building changes will begin in early March The financial drive headed by Brother Marcus Mahone and Richard A Harewood secured twenty pledges of $100.00 each on the opening of the campaign and twice that many pledges for smalled amounts The "New Frat House in Chicago" promises to be one of the finest in the country
THE BULLETIN. Three years ago Brother Thomas Clarke launched the "Xi Lambda Bulletin." which in January 1948, issued its edition Volume IV No 1 This popular little monthly publication is being expanded to include announcements of meetings and activities of Theta (Chicago University Undergrad) Chapter; Alpha Nu (Northwestern University Undergrad) Chapter and Gamma Rho Lambda (Graduate Chapter in Gary) It is devoted exclusively to the activities of Alpha Phi Alpha in Chicagoland and is expanding by popular demand.
NEW DIRECTORY ' The Chapter President will announce on Founder's Day in March 1948 the publication of the Chicagoland Alpha Phi Alpha Directory- The Directory is the first phase of the Chicagoland Alpha Phi Alpha Blue Book to be compiled and completed sometime later The Directory is the inspiration of the Chapter Historian and is meant to be simply a ready reference guide, containing the name, personal address, professional ad-
DR HENRY ALLEN BOYD
Few brothers have so consistently and without any need for returned favors used their influence, wealth, and personal time as Brother Dr Henry Allen Boyd, publisher and banker, in keeping the spirit of Alphadom alive in his own city of Nashville and many other sections of the country
Just back from the Tulsa Convention where he remained throughout the long sessions Brother Boyd called members of his chapter, Chi together and asked them to serve as official hosts to a Fellowship Banquet for all brothers of Nashville They did The reception, held in the Utopia Club of the Y M C A Building, Fourth and Charlotte, attracted around two hundred Alpha brothers, representing Chi, Meharry Medical College: Alpha Chi, Fisk University; Beta Omi cron Tennessee State College; and Tau Lambda
Music was furnished by Tennessee State Collegians, and guest speakers were Brothers Meredith G. Ferguson, General Treasurer; Sphinx Editor L O Swingler, of Memphis; and Dr Boyd Greetings came from each chapter president A.id the menu? Southern Fried Chicken, Peas in the Nest Lettuce with Roquefort Cheese Dressing, Cake and Ice Cream, Rolls and Coffee The entire bill was "footed" by Brother Boyd
'It was my feeling that these young brothers needed some encouragement, and it was a real pleasure for me to offer my little bit." stated Brother Boyd
The entire Fraternity over the years has been encouraged by Dr Boyd as generosity in many forms flow from the bigness of his heart
dress and current correct phone number of every known man in Chicagoland; three hundred and ninety-four honorable men of renown Distribution will be one to each individual, one to each national and regional officer and finally one to any Brother, anywhere, who may be interested in Who's Who— and Where, in Chicagoland
From Page 45
this organization as a basis for establishing a Negro Fraternity at Michigan State This is borne out by the fact that at the next meeting, on December 8, 1946, a committee was appointed to investigate three Negro fraternities, namely Alpha Phi Alpha Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Phi Psi and to report on their functions, aims and ideals The committee members made their reports at later meetings and on February 23 1947, an election was held to decide which fraternity was to be chosen Ten men wee present at this meeting There were two rounds of balloting and on the first ballot Alpha Phi Alpha received six votes, Kappa Alpha Psi two and Omega Phi Psi received one vote The president did not vote. On the next ballot Alpha Phi
Calvin Sharp, Thomas C Walker, Carl Armstrong, Herbert Burnett, John N Moore, Faculty Advisor Inset" Alvis W Caliman , , 4 _
Alpha received seven votes and Kappa Alpha Psi received two votes From that time on, the efforts of the majority members of Gentlemen of State were directed towards establishing A Phi A on the Michigan State College campus
On June 6 1947 nine men were initiated into the Sphinx Club by Brothers from Epsilon Chapter, assisted by three Brothers from Lansing Michigan
At the start of the fall term on October 14 1947, the first meeting of the M S C Sphinx Club was held on the campus Permanent officers were elected and a Constitution Committee was selected to draw up a constitution The Sphinx Club adopted Lincoln Community Center in Lansing as its Educational Project, and each member devoted an hour per week as a volunteer worker in the roles of supervisory, guidance and counselor personnel
In the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan on December 7, 1947, eight Brothers
from Michigan State College and four Brothers from the University of Michigan were initiated into the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity by the members of Epsilon Chapter
A meeting was held on December 8 1947, and temporary officers of the M. S C group were elected and a petition for a charter to establish a chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha at Michigan State College was signed by the members The petition was sent to the Epsilon delegate who will take it to the 1947 General Convention for action
Temporary officers and members of the Michigan State College Group: Wm Horton Thompson, President; Herbert Burnett Vice President; William Richardson Secretary; Calvin Sharp, Treasurer; Carl Armstrong, Alvis W Caliman, Clarence Gray William H Haithco, Fred Johnson, Thomas C. Walker
Fraternally yours, WILLIAM O. CAIN, Assoc. Editor.
By W A Eamuel
Thursday evening, December 6 past, the Brothers who were in attendance at the 14th Annual Meeting of the Association of College? and Secondary Schools were entertained at a Smoker given by the Brothers at the host school, Prairie View A & M College
The guest Brothers were: W. E. Combs, Gamma Mu Lambda: Jacob H Boorough, Gamma Epsilon Lambda; Chas. L. Williams. Beta Beta Lambda: E G Green, Beta Lambda; W C Cogdell. Upsilon Lambda: J. C. Evans. Sigma; R P Daniel Chi Lambda: V E Daniel Alpha Up-ilon Lambda: H Council Trenholm, Alpha Upsilon Lambda: F L Rousseve Sigma Lambda: Thos H. Henderson. Beta Gamma Lambda: J. W Price, Mu Lambda: Felton G Clark, Beta Iota Lambda
There was bridge, liquid and solid refreshments meeting of old friends and stimulating fellowship Brother Trenholm, our national educational director, and Brother Robert P Daniel, chairman of the Budget Committee led a short discussion of current fraternity affairs Brothers present were particularly interested in the proposed office of executive secretary Since Brother Trenholm was chairman of the Committee on Executive Secretary we were able to get the score first-hand
The affair was held in the reception room of Prairie View's famous guest house The nineteen bo^t brothers on the campus who are affiliated with Aloha Eta Lambda chpp*er in Houston derived keen satisfaction from seeing iho v! itn-s Fpend an evening of solid r <loyment
Undergraduates of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity of Roanoke ?avo their first annual New Year's Eve Ball sponsored by Alpha Kappa Lambda Chapter December 31, 1947, at the Institute of Musical Activities
Invitations were given to all undergraduate members of Greek-Letter organizations from Roanoke Visitors in the city for the holidays also received invitations The Party was highly enjoyed by all of the approximately forty couples present
The Music Studios were beautifully decorated in the Fraternity's colors, and greeting the guests as they entered the hall of the Institute was the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Emblem exhibiting a blaze of glory
The committee of arrangements for this gala affair included: Chairman Kenith N Hylton Alpha Beta Chapter, Talladega Colleae: Co-Chairman, George A Moore, Jr., Alpha Chi Chapter, Fisk University; George L Jeffries, Beta Theta Chapter Bluefield State College; Osborne Wheaton Beta Theta Chapter, Bluefield State College; Elwood Dudley, Alpha Omicron Chapter Johnson C Smith University: and the following Sphinxmen: Paul B Adams, Bluefield State College and Lylburn K Downing, Lincoln University (Pa.)
GAMMA IOTA'S FIRST SWEETHEART Hampton's "Alpha Sweetheart Hampton Institute, Va Charming Miss Julia A Moore, a senior in the Division of General studies at Hampton Institute, has been crowned "Miss Alpha Sweetheart" of Gamma Iota Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Miss Moore, a resident of Montgomery, Alabama, and a former Chicagoan is a member of Gamma Theta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
BETA SIGMA LAMBDA
Hartford, Conn.
Greetings Brothers:
Beta Sigma Lambda Chapter is continuing to maintain its position of leadership in Greater Hartford, under the leadership of its astute president Brother Dr J W Bullock The chapter was reactivated slightly more than a year ago after remaining dormant during the war years and has made remarkable progress in the reassumption of its traditional position of leadership
In keeping with the principle of service to the community. Beta Sigma Lambda is sponsoring the appearance of the Howard University Choir at Bushnell Memorial Hall in Hartford, March 23, 1948 This presentation is in anticipation of setting up a "Do Good" fund, out of which would be financed scholarships for worthy students, aid to summer camps for underprivileged children help for the needy at Christmas and other worthy causes
The Howard Choir is under the direction of Brother Warner Lawson who is a native
Hartfordite His return home as a leader in the world of music is regarded by residents of this insurance capital of the nation as a triumph of no mean significance Brother Lawson's father is a conductor of a school of music here in the city
Heading the business agenda and stamped "immediate action" is the consideration of an initiation at some future date The Chapter gave a smoker at the Independent Social Center, inviting prospective candidates who have shown an interest In being brought into the fold of Alphadom.
Schools in and around Hartford, represented at the smoker were the University of Connecticut, Trinity College, Wesleyan University Springfield College and the Connecticut College of Pharmacy
Brother Rev James Wright, pastor of the Talcott Street Congregational Church will be the host at the next meeting which will be held at his church. He has promised a dinner of roast turkey, which shouldn't do any harm to the attendance
The chapter welcomes Brother Bev Wil-
SWEETHEART OF BETA NU Mrs Miriam Hampton, wife of Brother L R Hampton, Jr., and senior in home economics, has been named Sweetheart of Beta Nu, Florida A and M State College, Tallahassee Congratulations are in order to both Brother Hampton and his lovely wife.
liam King, of Beta Chapter, Howard University who is now serving .is Chaplain tor the Connecticut Tobacco industry Fraternally yours, William D Graham, Associate Editor
Memphis, Tennessee
To brothers everywhere Greetings:—
As this chapter letter goes to press Alpha Delta Lambda has held three chapter meetings for 1948 Never has enthusiasm at the beginning of the year been so high not even in 1947 when the 'Beale Street" boys made their greatest record In Alpha cin through sponsorship of the "City-wide Musical Contest." and through its enviable position of official host to the Southern Regional Conference
The interest and fine attendance at chapter meetings during the month of January, even with the weather being most unfavorable, indicate that Alpha Delta Lambda Is out to even surpass its last year's accomplishments The brothers in Memphis are never satisfied to rest on past laurels
Our first chapter meeting with Brother Milton Barbour was one at which delegates brought reports on the General Convention in Tulsa The Tarpley brothers, Charlie president, and Marvin, secretary, alternated in giving detailed accounts of convention happenings What they may have missed was brought out by Brother J Edward Cotton, associate Sphinx editor Needless to say that we were inspired, and of course graliM>learn that our "old faithful," Brother Lewis O Swingler was returned as Editor-in-Chief of the Sphinx He has brought credit to our chapter and city through his
years of devoted service, and we are glad that Alphadom at large paid such a deserving tribute to him by unanimously reelecting him to the editorship of the Sphinx It must have given Brother Swingler unusual pleasure to be so warmly received again in Tulsa . . . his hometown. The Chapter likewise was delighted to learn of the fine showing made by Brother Cotton for the position of Executive Secretary A veteran at Alpha Convention, Brother Cotton years ago won the title of "hand-shaking" Joe We like that title, because the brothers in Memphis know that Brother Cotton is always sincere when he extends the right hand of fellowship
To all General Officers, old and new alike Alpha Delta Lambda extends its fond greetings and pledge of wholehearted support Brother Bennie D Brown, newly elected executive secretary, will be given the same cooperation as it was our pleasure to extend to the outgoing secretary Brother Burt A Mayberry, who set such a high mark for his successor
Congratulations are also in order to another chapter member, Brother James (Jake) Barbour, who was selected by the chapter as its "Alphaman of the Year." Brother Barbour after spending three years or longer in the armed forces, returned to Memphis and established a commercial cleaning and pressing business He is presently employing several people, including Alpha brothers Not once has his interest ligged in Alpha Although a member of the graduate chapter Brother Barbour has continued to manifest in Beta Xi, the undergraduate chapter, through which he entered the Fraternity Brother Dr Milton S J Wright, upon his visit to Memphis last November, was most impressed with the enthusiasm and spirit of Brother Barbour and referred to him as a "Typical Alpha Man." The noted educator would not return to Wilberforce without paying Brother Barbours place a personal visit. The second and third meetings of the year were held respectively with Brothers Dr C J Bates, promilent dentist; and Dr R Earl Bland, well known physician Each of these two brothers gave the chapter plenty to remember their meetings by in the way of refreshments and the good old Alpha spirit Recent addition to the chapter has been Brother Fred Maise, member of the National Boy Scout staff Brother Maise represents a transfer from Alpha Phi Lambda, Norfolk Va Presently he is making Memphis his headquarters, but his territory as a national Scout official includes Ohio Illinois, Virginia Pennsylvania Indiana and Delaware So if Brother Maise is in your area, extend in him the hand of greetings While in Norfolk Brother Maise served as executive secretary of the Tidewater Council, BSA He formerly starred with the Atlanta University football teams during his college days, and was known in collegiate grid circles as "Rip" Maise
"Hats off to Brother J. W. Bowden, who has been named Universal Life Insurance Company's "Manager of the Year." Brother Bowden, graduate of Lane College, is manager of the Memphis District Number 1 When pointed out to him that no 'first-year manager" had ever been able to lead the entire agency force of Universal Life, Brother Bowden replied: "I think I will defy tradition." This he did in a most creditable way
We wish each of you the best success for 1948
James G King, Associate Editor
Shaw University, Raleigh, N. C.
Phi Lambda Chapter of Raleigh and Beta Rho Chapter, with its seat at Shaw University, reveled in fraternal spirit and enthusiasm recently when they entertained Brothers Paul Robeson and Max Yergan at a smoker The visit to Raleigh of these distinguished brothers-in-Alpha was occasioned by the presentation of Brother Robeson
Greetings:
On the night of November 26, past, Beta Phi Lambda Chapter at Its third annual Presentation Ball, introduced to the elite of Savannah six beautiful debutantes
The ball was given in the Crystal Ballloom at Coconut Grove
The place was beautifully decorated in the fraternity colors, supplemented with nature's foliage which added color, and spirit to the occasion as well as revealed the culture, art, and aesthetic tastes of the brothers in the chapter
The fraternity in an effort to reward scholarship, spread culture, elevate true womanhood, promote good citizenship and advance community improvement introduced the following young debutantes to society: Misses Olga Willene Bynes, Dorothy Delores Mclver, Olivia Delores Smith, Willie Mae Baldwin, Marian Lorraine Hosey and Vivian Julian Andrews These young women along with their escorts embodied all that could be found in beauty, culture and refinement The matrons for the affair were: Mrs Alfred A Alston, the wife of Brother Alston: Mrs Wilson P Hubert, the wife of Brother Hubert; and Mrs Richard W Moore the wife of Brother Moore These
in concert in Raleigh Memorial Auditorium under sponsorship of Shaw University by arrangement with the Council on African Affairs of which Brother Yergan Is President
The smoker was held at St Augustine's following the concert
It was a goodly sight to see nearly fifty graduate and undergraduate brothers assembled to honor and hear words of encouragement from these and other eminent brothers, among them Brothers Harold L Trigg and Robert P Daniel, Presidents of
ladies added charm, grace, poise, beauty and an atmosphere of culture to the presentation
The following brothers were very active in seeing that guests were royally treated: Brothers Perry Clay, Scott, Wilson, Collier, Dixon and McDew These brothers were really Imbued with the spirit of Alpha Phi Alpha and so exhibited in their dress and manner
More than 260 guests enjoyed the Presentation Ball and entered Into the occasion with Thanksgiving happiness and appreciation for the efforts of the fraternity
The latest formal attire of both ladles and gentlemen indicated that they were well informed in Vogue, Esquire and Emily Post
From the compliments and praises received from the guests during and after the Presentation it was truly a great success
The Presentation Ball marked the close of the year's activities of the fraternity for the public in the year 1947 We wish to express our appreciation to the public and other fellow Greeks for co-operating, aiding and supporting all of the scholastic, cul-
St Augustine's and Shaw and both members of Phi Lambda.
Brother Walker H Quarles served as master of ceremonies and with committees from the chapter saw to the comfort and entertainment of every brother Good fellowship was the order of the evening as the smokes and refreshments went the rounds. As the smoker closed, brothers formed the traditional circle to sing the Alpha hymn with the deep feeling that reflected their renew"ed zeal and fervor
tural, educational and edifying activities offered to the city of Savannah in promoting a better and higher outlook as well as relationship to all
Under the wise leadership of Dr S M McDew, Jr., president of Beta Phi Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha much credit for the speed, spirit, activities and efforts presented to the city of Savannah for the year closing must go to the following brothers: John Q Adams, Felix J Alexis, Alfred A Alston, Earl A Ashton, Emanuel A Bertrand, C Vernon Clay, John B Clemmons, Henry M Collier, Jr., James A Colston Alphonso L Cox, P D Davis, Jr., Wellington G Dixon, Ralph Mark Gilbert, Nathaniel Harris, Martin G Haynes, Wilson P Hubert, Stephen M McDew Jr., Richard W Moore, Henry W Murph, Timothy C Meyers, William B. Nelson, Amjogallo E. Peacock, Lawrence D Perry, Walter S Scott, Jr., J Wilmette Wilson, and Julius Williams
Beta Phi Lambda wishes each one of you a Happy New Year and pledge that the year 1948 activities will be much more edifying educational and inspiring Fraternally yours, W B NELSON, Associate Editor
Visiting brothers Included, Brothers' S. Mercer of Sumter, S O; H Johnson of St Petersburg, Fla.: and William Cash of Greensboro Other brothers from Raleigh and vicinity included Brothers H C Perrin, James Murfree, W C Davenport, J W Eaton, J W Wallace George F Newll, C M Carter, W R Strassner, R L Lynch, Roger D O'Kelly, R H Toole, Harry E Payne, N A. Pitts, Robert Barnes, Albert Whitaker. and undergraduate Brothers James Walker Turn to Page 61
its
Special
...
The
From Page 49 and Alfred R Smith with neophyte brothers listed below
Newly elected officers of Phi Lambda are, Brothers H C Perrin, President; James Murfree, Vice President; W C Davenport, Recording Secretary; Thomas J Cullers, Financial Secretary; J W Eaton, Treasurer; J. W. Wallace, Editor; George F. Newell, Sergeant-at-arms; and Charles R McCreary, Chaplain Phi Lambda joins other agencies of the community in welcoming Brother Harold L Trigg on his return to the State of North Carolina as first Negro President of St Augustine's College, Raleigh
Brother W C Davenport, who has joined the ranks of the Benedicts, is receiving congratulations from all sides His bride is the former Miss Annie Ruth Persons of Bethel. N C Brother Davenport is Wake County Farm Demonstration Agent He has long been the efficient secretary of Phi Lambda and has been a staunch member still longer Mrs Davenport is secretary to the Negro Consultant to the State Department of Public Welfare Brother and Mrs Walker H Quarles are
the proud parents of a fine baby girl, Maureen Diane Brother Quarles, Secretary of Shaw University, is a moving spirit in the chapter Congratulations Brother Reginald L. Lynch, Dean Emeritus of St Augustine's and an Alpha stalwart since 1908, is back with the chapter after a long illness and we are glad to see him out again
The chapter is glad to have as new members, Brothers C M Carter and Charles R McCreary
Beta Rho Chapter, with its seat at Shaw University, is in the midst of a great year In its recent initiation, 20 candidates were carried across the burning sands The chapter was pleased to list among this number 12 initiates from St Augustine's College These will form the nucleus of a new chapter alread granted the institution and soon to be installed This will mark the debut of Greek letter organizations on the campus, an act of progressive Brother President Trigg
Brother James Walker is newly chosen chapter president; Brother Everett Lattimore vice president The chapter's neophytes are
Shaw University: Brothers Haywood L Alexander, who becomes chapter secretary; David Williams, treasurer; Fred D Archer dean of pledgees; Dorman F Avery, Jonathan C Brown, Clarence Elliott, James R Powell, Perry A. Taylor, and Marvin L. Williams St Augustine's: Furness Armstead George E Marzey, Jr., Arthur L Fox Henry T Goodson, Edgar G Harris, Henry J Hill, Andrew C Humphrey, Walker B LeFlore, John S Miller, William J Padgett Ben J Stephenson, and William LeFlore
Alpha takes pride in the election of Brother Everett Lattimore as captain of the Shaw Bears football squad for 1948
Fraternally yours, Joel W. Wallace.
Phi Lambda Editor
Beta Pi is more determined than ever now to hold higher and higher the principles of Alpha Phi Alpha! One of the reasons for this increased determination is ushered in by the keen interest shown in the Brotherhood by thirteen newly made brothers The chapter
is justly proud of these newcomers, and the concern shown by these brothers increases greatly its spiritual strength
Another reason for Beta Pi's increased determination is brought about by the heartening reports of great success achieved at the General Convention at Tulsa, Oklahoma
The delegates to the Conference were very enthusiastic in their reports, and the chapter firmly believes that from this type of unity, teamwork, and brotherhood—and only this type—can come the enlightening good for all peoples for which we so diligent1\ assign ourselves
Beta Pi is now using in words and deeds some of the phrases and terms brought from the recently held Convention They have become more or less, slogans and benefits are already being derived therefrom "An Ever Expanding Program" and "A Program of Aclion" are slogans that are helping to create a new type of interest in all phases of the chapter's activities
II is believed by Beta Pi that the wholesome atmosphere and healthy contact made possible by General Conventions and Regional Conventions are of essential worth to the life of the organization that cannot be measured In keeping with this conviction the chapter hopes to create a program whereby it shall be able to send a greater number of brothers to these all-important meetings as well as the official representatives Fraternally yours, Finis F Fields, Associate Editor.
Hampton, Virginia
Greetings to Alphadom from one of the Fraternity's newest chapters Delta Beta Lambda, which came into being in Hamp-
force University, is shown with (from
Benjamin E
Hawkins, James L Cummings, retiring Lay Member of the Executive Council; James H Utley, Dalton Glenn, Oneal Goodrich A Percy Houston, William Longdon, and Rhodes Barham
ton on December 13, 1947, when Eastern Vice-President, Brother Louis H Schuster journeyed from Petersburg with Brother Dr Harry B Roberts to conduct an impressive charter ceremony at the home of Brother W Barton Beatty on the campus of Hampton Institute
The charter ceremony, which was conducted in candle light with a massive replica of the Alpha Phi Alpha pin in the background, will ever be remembered by the twenty-six brothers who constitute the founding membership of Delta Beta Lambda Following the signing of the charter and the installation of the officers, each brother made remarks concerning the significance of the Fraternity and the Chapter in his life Brief talks were also given by visiting brothers who came to Hampton to participate in the charter meeting Among these were Brother Dr McDaniel of Petersburg, Brother A D Manning of Newport News Brothers Curtis A Crocker and James A Brinkley of Richmond, and Brothers Dr Seldon and Thomas Young ot Norfolk Undergraduate officers of Gamma Iota, Hampton Institute's far-famed "G I." chapter, were also present for the ceremony Alter the formal activation of Delta Beta Lambda and the talks by the brothers, the members and their guests were conducted to the dining room to enjoy a turkey dinner.
CONGRATULATIONS IN ORDER Mu Lambda Chapter, Washington D C, which has provided Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity consecutively with three General Presidents, and many other top leaders, gets off to a grand start for 1948 as Brother Dr Walter M Booker, of Howard University, (Right end), receives the warm congratulations of Brother Dr Channing H Tobias, of New York City, upon his elevation to the chapter presidency Dr Tobias was present as guest speaker on the installation program which included a formal dinner party at Slowe Hall
This was a good start for Alphas in the nation's capital, and General President Belford V Lawson, Jr., (2nd from right), and Eastern Vice-President Louis Schuster, of Virginia State College, flash smiling approval over the whole thing. "Alphas on the march everywhere," they declared
The establishment of Delta Beta Lambda Chapter represents one of the major reclamation endeavors in the Eastern Region Chief credit for the founding of the Chapter and the reclamation of all Alpha men in the Hampton-Phoebus area belongs to Brothers Dr George W Hunter and Robert J Anthony who were elected president and secretary-treasurer respectively Other officers are Brothers Clifford B Howlette, vice-president; Dr John W Capps sergeant-at-arms; Walter R Brown, chaplain; and Dr Hugh M. Gloster, editor to THE SPHINX.
Although Delta Beta Lambda is a young chapter, all of its members are veteran Alpha men and at least two of the group—• Brothers Beatty and Gloster—have held national offices in the Fraternity In addition all of the brothers hold important positions in the Hampton-Phoebus community Brother Dr Capps Is a prosperous young physi-
MU LAMBDA KNOXVILLE TENN From
left, seated:—Brothers J J Johnson, James Jefferson, Walter Chandler, D D Ervin, H A Henderson, Second row, from
cian, while Brother Dr W S Hart is a successful dentist Brother Rev George Russell is pastor of the Queen Street Baptist Church in Hampton At Phoenix School Brothers
Clifford B Howlette and Walter T Jones are assistant principal and teacher of mathematics, respectively Brother Dr Eugene W Hunter is a government pharmacist at the Kecoughtan Veterans Hospital, while Brother G Edward Ellis is a local mail carrier
The majority of the Chapter members are employes of Hampton Institute and their names and positions at the school follow:
Robert J Anthony, Director of Non-Instructional Personnel
W. Barton Beatty, Jr., Director of Public Relations
Dowling M. Bolton. Department of English
Walter R Brown, Secretary
James W. Fraser, Department of Automobile Mechanics
Dr Hugh M Gloster, Chairman, Department of English
Dr George W Hunter, Chairman, Department of Chemistry
Hylan Lewis, Department of Social Sciences
Roscoe E Lewis, Chairman, Department of Social Sciences
Alonzo G Moron, General Business Manager
Herman N Neilson, Department of Physical Education and Head Basketball Coach
James E Nix, Veterans' Counselor Dr L F Palmer, Department of Secondary Education
J Saunders Redding, Department of English
William H Robinson, Director, Division of Education
Gideon E Smith, Department of Physical Education
Theodore E Taylor, Department of Physics
Charles H Williams, Chairman of Department of Physical Education and Director of Athletics
James E Young, Department of Physics
Under the vigorous leadership of their president the members of Delta Beta Lambda Chapter are planning a worthwhile program The brothers are now looking forward to the first general meeting of the Chapter at the home of Brother Beatty on February 3, when Brother Beatty, who is chairman of the Fraternity's National Election Committee, will report on the 33rd General Convention of Alpha Phi Alpha at Tul-
sa during the Christmas holidays Other features of this meeting will be a group picture of the chapter and reports by the chairmen of standing committees—Brothers Beatty, Howlette, Eugene W Hunter, and Nix
We promise to keep Alpha brothers aware of our Chapter activities through the pages of THE SPHINX
Fraternally yours, Hugh M Gloster Associate Editor
Youngstown, Ohio
Greetings, Brothers!
The Alpha Spirit again reigns supreme In Beta Rho Lambda Chapter New blood has been added This event was occasioned by the announcement by the co-chairmen of the probation committee Brother James E Smith and Brother Romeo Robinson, that the initiation of the three neophites, Leon Robinson, George Parker and Wallace Jones, all students at Youngstown College, would be held on November 6, 1947, In our Clubrooms Immediately the Brothers began
complete, impressive preparations for this affair At the ceremony, we had a full representation of our chapter roster Every Alpha man was alert, willing and helpful in this initiation
After our Neophites had crossed the burning sands with due obeisance and humility, being surprisingly and duly impressed, the entire membership of Beta Rho Lambda Chapter along with the new brothers, retired to the beautiful, modern home of Brother Attorney Andrew Johnson for a Fellowship Banquet After the Banquet, we enjoyed a Brotherhood smoke and informal discussions The repast was most enjoyable and successful Our new Brothers were greatly impressed and caught the Alpha spirit
On November 12, we had as our honored guest Brother Charles W Green, past president of the Southern Jurisdiction He gave interesting, inspiring and timely remarks to the Brothers We were most happy indeed to have this seasoned Alpha man with us
On November 19,Beta RhoLambda Chapter held the election of officers for the year 1948 The following officers were elected: President, Brother Graham A Lynch; VicePresident, Brother Attorney Andrew Johnson; Secretary, Brother James E Smith; Treasurer, Brother Rev S S Booker; Editor to Sphinx, Brother Romeo Robinson; Sergeant-at-Arms, Brother Dr. Earl M. Stewart At this meeting wereceived Brother W Robert Smalls of Warren into our Chapter, pending his transfer from Alpha XI Lambda Chapter of Toledo
On Saturday, November 22, Beta Rho Lambda Chapter again held a smoker In the Club Rooms on West Federal Street We entertained guests from Youngstown College These guests were prospective Alpha material. After the Testimonial period, games and Informal discussions were the diversions We felt that in this way we might be better able to evaluate the prospective Alpha material Following this period we enjoyed refreshments and an Alpha Smoke
Yes, Brothers, Beta Rho Lambda Chapter collectively and individually will continue to hold the Alpha Light high Fraternally yours,
ROMEO J ROBINSON
Associate Editor 518 Park Avenue Youngstown, Ohio s
Buffalo. N. Y.
Greetings, Brothers in Alpha:
We of Rho Lambda, deeply regret that several issues of the Sphinx have reached you, since last we offered our contribution We have however, been diligently adhering to the principles of Alpha, and the past year was continually marked with a series of progressive strides and successful events
In reviewing the events of our progress for 1947,we are justifiably proud of the following:
1—Winning first prize in the Delta Jabberwock
2—Our Annual Spring Formal at Kleinhans Music Hall
3—Our Banquet for the General President, Brother Belford V Lawson Immediately fol-
lowing this, Brother H Daniel Lang, Chairman of the Educational Committee, presented Brother Lawson as the principal speaker at an open Forum This marked the culminating program of our Education and Citzenship Week endeavor, and those who heard Brother Lawson treat his topic "Behind God's Back" still marvel at his dynamic approach and remarkable delivery
4—Our first Basketball Team, under the captaincy of Brother H LaMonte Mitchell Tho' organized late in the year, we were successful in defeating the Kappa's in a postseason encounter This marked the first mterfraternal contest in Buffalo, and public demand for similar competition was forceful enough to cause the formation of a four team Inter-fraternal League for this season.
5—Our Bowling Team, under the captaincy of Brother Dr S Calvin Jonnson has proven itself to be a most capable aggregation
6—Our role as hosts to Brother Dr G A Galvin, Regional Director, who presented members of the Chapter with their 1948Pass cards, and led a discussion on the important issue to be considered in Tulsa
7—Our Secretary, Brother Russell N Service, who was appointed Executive Secretary of the Michigan Avenue Branch of the Buffalo Y M C A The austere modesty of Brother Service, would never allow him to disclose to those who met him in Tulsa, that he was our choice for the distinctive title of Alpha man of the year
Brother Service was born in Boston, Massachusetts but has been a resident of Buffalo for the past twenty-five of his thirty four years 1923,the year which marked the arrival of Brother Service to Buffalo, was the same year that work was initiated on the Michigan Avenue Y M C A
Brother Service attended public school No 12, Hutchinson Central High School and the University of Buffalo, receiving his Bach-
RHO LAMBDA'S BASKETBALL TEAM
The first Alpha Basketball Team to be formed in Buffalo is practicing diligently in anticipation of its contests in a four team Inter-fraternal League
Kneeling from left to right, are Brothers Kenneth L
elor's Degree from the latter in 1938 While at the University lie distinguished himself as a student and a Varsity member of the Football and Wrestling Teams
It was during his days as an undergraduate, that he entered C M C A work as a volunteer leader, and his efforts were centered around Boys' Clubs, his organization of the Junior Board, and inauguration of the Annual Young People's Forum
In 1938, the Volunteer Leader was employed as a part-time Boy's Work Supervisor This, was merely another rung on the ladder of success that he was destined to climb so rapidly, and in 1938 upon his graduation from the University of Builain was prompted to the position of Boy's Work Secretary Brother Service met the duties and responsibilities of his new position with the ability of a natural born executive. The Annual Western New York Assembly of Negro Youth, which he organized and developed was one of the six Youth programs to be awarded National Y M C A honors at New York World's Fair in 1940
He became program director in 1942, and tho' handicapped by the lack of personnel due to the war, he did a commendable job in all phases of program work In addition to his regular duties Brother Service found time to serve as Director of Camp Wales Hollow for the past twelve years, and also receive his Master's Degree in Education from
Brown, James Robinson, H LaMonte Mitchell Captain; Russell N Service, Dr B Franklin Murphy; standing from left, are Richard B Blue, Sr., Lewis L Bickett, H Daniel Lang, Hooper Council, Robert Gantt and John W Blanton
the University of Buffalo in 1946
It can be readily seen, that the announcement of Brother Service's appointment as Executive Secretary of Michigan Avenue Y M C A did not come as a surprise; Ins achievements, contributions and ability made him the most qualified individual for the position
For 1948, our Roster of Officers has undergone but two alterations, those being in the offices of treasurer and associate editor to the Sphinx Brother Lewis L Bickett and Richard B Blue, Sr., are the newly installed officers for these posts In appreciation for the outstanding services and contributions rendered, it was the unanimous opinion of the Chapter, that Brother Dr Walter B Holland remain at the helm for another year; his able guidance, untiring efforts and magnetic appeal were felt to be the stimuli which motivated our endeavors
Our first meeting of the New Year, was held Friday evening, January 9. 1948.At this meeting, reports of the Budget, Educational, Social and Athletic Committees were submitted and approved, concerning the proposed plans for the coming 357 days
To all of you, from all of us, our sincere wishes that your energies expended in fostering the ideals of our Fraternity are terminated under the most favorable conditions Fraternally yours, Richard B Blue Sr. Associate Editor
Greetings Brothers In Alphadom:
Here at the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains and the heart of the Atomic Area, Alpha Mu Lambda "marches on!" In keeping with the National Reclamation Program, we wish to report that Alpha Mu Lambda has recently made an "all time" record In this regard under the leadership of brother L S Sinclair Financial Secretary
"Wake up and vote!" was the Alpha cry that resounded in every nook In our fair city prior to and during the Primary and General elections held August 6 and August 20 respectively Large black and gold placards adorned the walls and windows of public places throughout the city To the churches and civic clubs were distributed several hundred of Alpha booklets—chuck full of voting Information and suggested questions for prospective candidates 2000 "throw aways" (small handbills) were delivered to parents through the students of the public school system In co-operation with the Social Science Departments of the local Senior and Junior High Schools, an
all-student primary election was held; from this project students learned the mechanics of voting and in many instances relayed helpful Information to adult members of family Lecturers in the Alpha Voting School were Brother L S Sinclair, Brother P M Alexander, and Brother C A Cowan Bro W H Holt in co-operation with the PanHellenic Council supervised the making and sending of questionnaires to each candidate in the August Election In return, Alpha was able to give some first hand information to voting public prior to the big election Voting slides in the local theatres were made and directed by Bro James Jefferson On the day before the election a group of young ladies were hired to telephone prospective voters from lists of eliglbles and urged qualified persons to go to the polls and vote This entire project was under the auspices of the Citizenship Committee of which "Yours Truly" and Bro James Jefferson are co-chairmen; very ably assisted by the following committee members: Bro. James Harper, Bro Harold Hodges, Bro C
A Cowan, Bro M D Senter, Bro W H Holt and Bro J I Seals
We are happy to welcome back to our midst Bro Jack Johnson who was recently discharged as first lieutenant from the TJ S Army
Another "first" was unveiled by Bro P M Alexander a few days ago when he opened a first class dental clinic for the citizens of Knoxville If any of you Brothers visit Knoxville, I am sure you would enjoy seeing this very modern establishment "Congratulations, Doc!"
Bro M D Senter was named our official convention delegate: alternate, Bro C A Cowan.
Our last meeting of the year was with the McDade brothers, Louie and George This meeting was largely of a social nature
After listening to the very thrilling fight between Joe Louis and Joe Walcott the McDades served the brothers turkey with ALL her trimmings
Fraternally yours,
LEONARD A JACKSON, Associate Editor
Washington, D. C.
Greetings to all brothers in Alpha: Mu Lambda Chapter, after a three months vacation from fraternity activities, resumed its regular meetings in October
At the regular election of officers, the following brothers were elected: Dr Walter C Booker, president; Lester Browne, Jr., vice-president; Wayland D McClelland, recording secretary; Howland Ware, corresponding secretary; C C House, financial secretary; Norris H Atkins, treasurer; Jewel Nathaniel Murray, chaplain; Howard Jenkins associate Sphinx editor
At the Eastern Regional Convention, held In New York City. Mu Lambda was ably represented by Brothers Howland Ware and Moses Beaseley
Dr Walter C Booker and Verdie Robinson were selected to represent the Chapter as the two delegates to the General Convention In Tulsa, to carry on the spirit of fraternal fellowship and to endeavor to lend
BETA RHO CHAPTER, SHAW UNIVERSITY . . . Members of Beta Rho Chapter are pictured here Included in the group are 21 new members representing initiates from Shaw University and St Augustine's College From left to right are, Marvin Williams, Ben J Stephenson, Alfred R Smith, Walker LeFlore, Shade Connor, John S Miller, Everett Lattimore, Christopher
Gray, and Haywood L Alexander Second row: Perry A Taylor, George E. Barzey, Jr. Arthur L. Fox, Fred D. Archer, Warren G Keys, Furness Armstead, and William Leflore Third row: Henry T Goodson, Andrew C Humphrey, Henry J Hill, William J Padgett, Jonathan C Brown, Clarence Elliott, and Edgar G.Harris.
their contribution, to the long-range program of the fraternity Fraternally yours, LESTER BROWNE JR.,
Associate Editor
Asheville, S. C.
Formation of Gamma Psi Lambda chapter in Asheville was the culmination of months of work and conscientious efforts on part of fifteen brothers After the preliminary procedures had been completed Brother C L Blake, regional director, officially set up the chapter on November 1, 1947 Brother Blake, in his talk, impressed everyone with the ideals and aim of the Fraternity Every charter member pledged to give his wholehearted support in upholding to the letter Alpha Phi Alpha in the community
The following officers were installed by Regional Director Blake:
Brothers W Frank Hammond, president; Frank A Talliver, vice-president; Willie B Burton, secretary; Ernest L Fair, associate Sphinx Editor; Dr Robert M Hendrick, treasurer; Rev. S. Payton Manning, chaplain; Jesse W Bagley, historian; Raymond M Bland, sergeant-at-arms and parliamentarian
Other charter members include Brothers Charles B Bolden, Frank A Evans, Jr., Dr Howard K Harrison Daniel Ray, David K Hall, Homer S Kennedy, Luther Mimms Fraternally yours, Earnest L Fair, Associate Editor
Augusta, Ga
Greetings:
Alpha Chi Lambda Chapter held its first meeting of 1948 Tuesday, January 6 Brothers Bennett and Butler served as hosts and entertained with an all out sea food dinner which was enjoyed by all
PRESIDENT, AL-
PHA CHI LAMB-
The following officers for the year were installed: Brother E E Franks, President; Brother Dr John M. Tutt, Vice-president; Brother H L Thompson, Secretary; Brother Rias Bennett, Assistant Secretary; Brothel' S M Jenkins Treas•urer; Brother Dr R L Lockett, Parliamentarian; I Brother Horatio V Lajmar, Sgt.-at-Arms; Broth>er Dr A C Griggs, Chaplain; Brother H L Evans Associate Editor of Sphinx All brothers DA Brother pledged their co-operation K E Franks, new- and support to their new ly elected presi- officers and it appears as dent of Alpha Chi If we are headed for Lambda, Augusta, greater achievement durGeorgia ing 1948
The Educational and Scholarship Committee, under the leadership of Brother A. C. Griggs, presented an excellent report Last year the chapter presented scholarship prizes to worthy graduates of local high schools This year the chapter plans to give a full scholarship to some worthy graduate and the committee is working hard towards making this effort a success
During National Negro History Week the chapter is presenting a radio program over one of our local radio stations The purpose of this program is to enlighten the public on the contributions made by Alpha men Brother Charles Butler will be the principal speaker and music will be furnished by Alpha Chi Lambda quintet
Alpha Chi Lambda has activated an aggressive program in the interest of rendering greater service to this community
Fraternally yours, Herbert L Evans, Associate Editor
ASSOCIATE EDITOR C L Reeves, associate editor, Omricron Lambda, Birmingham, Alabama, is one of the enthusiastic staff of chapter journalists who are telling the grand story of Alpha's progress in all sections of the country Their chapter letters appear regularly in the
SCHOLAR->HIP AWARD
Brother James H. Uiley, Beta Pi Chapter Lan e College, is recipof the Uniergraduate Honor Scholarship in the Southern Jurisdiction for the current year The award was made by Alpha Phi Alpha Committee on Scholarship and Educational Activities In the past four such scholarships, one
for each jurisdiction, have been awarded on the basis of scholastic attainments With the creation of a Far Western Jurisdiction at the Tulsa Convention, the number of scholarships will probably be increased to five
Brother Utley, a pre-medical student of junior classification, has maintained a grade average of 2.7 (3.0 being the highest possible grade) since ne first enrolled at Lane He is also active in extra-curricular activities on and off the campus Brother Utley holds the office of president of Dramatic Club, vice-president, Mu Chapter, Beta Kappa Chi Scientific Society: secretary, Y. M. C. A.; secretary, Beta Pi Chapter, Alpha Phi Alpha; advertising manager, Dragonette, college publication; member Negro Youth Congress, and active in many auxiliaries of St Paul C M E Church, Jackson
Brother Utley attended the Tulsa convention as senior delegate of Beta Pi chapter
Brooklyn, New York
Greetings, Brothers:—
Gamma Iota Lambda Is proud to announce its first initiation after three years of existence The neophyte brothers who crossed the burning sands were Brothers Dr G'hauncey Levy and Dr Stanley G Redman
Brother William Hearst, Jr succeeded himself in last November election We Brooklynltes feel that our good president Is dynamic in words and in deeds Brother F W McCoy, chapter treasurer, has also made an enviable record
Brothers present at the initiation ceremonies were Brothers Charles Stewart, Frederick McFadden, William H Staves Alfred Watters, H Garrich Williams, Jesse P Griggs, Cecil Forster, William Jackson, J Harvey Kerns, Benjamin W Kagwa, Frank W McCoy, Herbert T Miller George W Gressiom, Joseph H Mahood, Jr., Dr Joseph Johnson Dr Joseph Thomas, James C Hairston, and Dr A B Lea host
GAMMA IOTA CHAPTER AFTER ONE YEAR Climaxing its first year of activities at Hampton Institute, Gamma Iota Chapter was started with a nucleus of fifteen charter members Thirty-two additional members were initiated
Alphas now on the campus are; front row left to right: Robert Chapman, Gordon Pinkett, Elmer McDowell, James Henderson, O H Majors, and Edgar Smith Second row: William B Proctot, Corresponding Secretary; Carl Johnson, Arthur Brown Midgett Parker, chairman of the Social Committee; C P Houston, Jr., Lawrence E Garrett, Noah T Collins,
Members of the chapter were profuse In their appreciation to Brother and Mrs Lee for the delicious Buffet Supper served
Here's hoping each of you the best in 1918
Fraternally yours
A K NYABONGO
Associate Editor
KAPPA LAMBDA CHAPTER
Greensboro, N C
Greetings, Brothers:
It has been an extended period since the brothherhood has heard from members of Kappa Lambda Yet we have not been asleep Brother Warner Lawson now head of the music department at Howard University was our chapter president the last time Kappa Lambda spoke through the columns Of the Sphinx It was that year the chapter won the lamed McGee Cup
The chapter has continued to sponsor its annual New Year's Eve Dance during the past six years Plans are now in the making for sponsorship of several other major activities, including a picnic in the summer
John H Erinkley, Jr, recording secretary; and James O Carter, president Third row: SilasJackson, Frank Sullivan,Clyde Reed, Robert E Wood, Alfred T Kynard, Dean of Pledgees; Franklyn Wilson, Charles A Friedman, John A Purdy Fourth row: Jacob T Stewart, treasurer; Robert Rogers, George Taylor, Robert Morman, Milton Bassett, Chaplain; Andrew Jackson Fifth row: George Goodman, sergeant-at-arms, Glendi Johns, and Jake Cox, assistant editor to the Sphinx Magazine Absent members are Ray Richardson, parliamentarian; Will Smith, Lonnie Harrington, Lloyd Stark, vice president; and Ulysses S Mathis
Our monthly meetings, held on the second Wednesday night, have been kept at a high pitch of interest The chapter has entertained a number of distinguished members The most recent visitor was Brother Paul Robeson, noted singer and actor, at the home of Brother Dr F E Davis He gave us an informative discussion on Russia
To each chapter and to the general officers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Kappa Lambda extends fond greetings and best wishes or a most successful year Fraternally yours
A T White, Jr.,
Editor
Indianapolis, Indiana Brothers in Alphadom:
Iota Lambda chapter in Indianapolis, Ind sends greetings Activities for the year 1947 were closed with a meeting at the home of Brother Clifton U Scott Officers for the ensuing year are: Roy D Clinthorne, president; Theodore Randall, vice-president; Everett Edwards, Secretary; Charles Thomas, financial secretary; Richard T Hill, corresponding secretary and associate editor to the Sphinx; Clifton Scott, parliamentarian; and La Verne Newsome, sergeant-at-arms
Outstanding among the chapter's achievements for the year were the setting up of Gamma Eta chapter at Indiana University and the awarding of two $100.00 scholarships to two deserving 1947 graduates of Crispus Attucks High School All brothers of the chapter are looking forward to doing greater things in the name of Alpha in 1948
Fraternally yours
RICHARD T HILL, Associate Editor. 2627 N Capitol Ave
Florida A And M College
Greetings:
News about the Convention has been the most talked about thing since the return of the delegates The recommendations made at the convention should within the not too distant future materialize in all chapters
Our Chapter had a large attendance at the Convention Hence, the activities of the Convention were well covered Those attending were: Brothers Drs Gray and Mathews Miles, Smith, and Howell
Brother Smith In our meeting for January, gave a comprehensive report of the Convention Other brothers attending the convention made brief reports
Brother Dr James Hudson was made a member of the American Philosophical Society He attended one of the Society's meetings in New York during the Christmas Season
To keep the Chapter alive, the "Wives and Sweetheart Party" has been set to come off sometime in February
Trusting that this will be a banner year for all Alphadom
Fraternally yours
S F Howell, Associate Editor
Howard University
Greetings, Brothers in Alphadom: At 12:01 a m. December 1 1947 Beta Chapter began its probationary activities for the season Twenty-nine pledgees were started on their journey across the "Burning Sands." The probation was terminated on December 5, 1947 All were successful in crossing
Our neophyte brothers joined the chapter in celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the charting of Beta Chapter Actually the celebration embodied the forty-first anni-
versary of Greekdom in Negro College Life, a development which Alpha Phi Alpha is proud to have initiated The activities extended over a two-day period, December sixth and seventh
On the sixth at two o'clock a public meeting was held in Andrew Rankin Chapel on the campus. The theme of the program was "Greeks, past, present, and future." During the meeting instances were cited in which all Negro Greek Letter Organizations have contributed to the betterment not only for college life, but to the advancement of the Wegro Race
A certificate was awarded to an outstanding member of each fraternity and sorority represented on Howards campus. In addition to these presentations, there was also presented a gift from Beta Chapter to the University and a gift to tne Mother of the Chapter, Mrs Natalie Day
Following the public meeting, at seven o'clock the Chapter held its installation exercises. At the close of the installation program the brothers retired with their guests to an evening of relaxation at a closed cocktail party The party was held at the "Cimmeron Club," an exclusive Washington establishment
The Sunday activities included a forum and also the regular Chapter meeting at which time our newly initiated brothers had their opportunity to actively participate in the Chapter activities
In addition to having made this a gala occasion, Beta hopes it has done something to promote greater solidarity among the fraternities and sororities on Howard's campus
Saving the important facts until last I might add that our celebration was enhanced by the presence of such notables as Jewel Bro. Henry Callis. Jewel Nathaniel Murry, General President Brother Belford V Lawson, Brother Channing Tobias, and our regional Vice-president, Brother Louis H Schuster There were present also national officers and prominent figures from other Greek and non-GreeK letter organizations
We of Beta feel we had a successful and profitable celebration. I might add that others outside of our bond have said much to nuke us honestly believe this
We of Beta now are preparing for our annual Coronation Ball It promises to be an outstanding affair Erskine Hawkins will provide the music for the occasion
Who will be the new "Queen of Beta Chapter?" That's a secret, but I'll send a picture of her with my next bit of news from Beta Fraternally yours, Milton C Brown Jr.
Associate
Editor
Wayne University
Greetings, Brothers;
Alpha Upsilon Chapter, Wayne University has geared its 1948 calendar to that progressive tempo which is indicative of pragmatic leadership
We have initiated a six-month program that will entail all of the precepts and high ideals of Alpha Phi Alpha
The third Sunday of every month has been proclaimed as Alpha Sunday Members attend one of the respective churches in a body, thus maintaining the precepts of religion
Negro History Week project was carried out for a week during the month of February A display of Negro works in music art, literature and other achievements was displayed in Wayne University.
A Brotherhood smoker is planned for March for the brothers to maintain the spirit of cohesiveness This affair is to be closed An elaborate dinner-dance will be given Easter This is also closed to the brothers
April is the month of rushees A smoker will be given to acquaint the students with the ideals and precepts of Alphadom A fine program is planned for the guests
The Desakadesis will be well attended by all as it is one of the finest social affairs of the season. It is usually held during the month of May There will also be a Mother's Day program given honoring the Mother of the year This will be very interesting for both the Alphas and their Mothers An outing on Memorial Day will terminate the semester's program
Congratulations on achievements go to the following men of Alpha Upsilon: Brother Lamar Binion a January graduate from the college of pharmacy is president of the L C Binion Company, manuacturers of perfumes and cosmetics The aim of the company is to create job opportunities for Negroes by serving him He was formerly the president of the Wayne University Pharmacy Society and is the only Negro to hold the position Lamar is also a member of the Wayne American Pharmaceutical Association He is active in the Smith Chapel Dramatic Guild and choir He is also a member of the Clement Savings Association
Brother William Burgess is an accountant for the Detroit Housing Commission He is working in the Brewster Project Administration Department
Brother Wilbur Hughes is a real estate broker with offices in the Tobin Building in downtown Detroit He has a lucrative business with twelve salesmen He is also a student at the Detroit College of Law
Brother Edgar Nance is in a business enterprise with his father and brother They are the owners of the Bizerte Bar, one of Detroit's finer nite spots and they also have a gasoline station and garage: they are the owners of a fleet of taxi-cabs, and have an interest in the Paradise Bowling and Paradise Valley Distributing Company These fine businesses are managed by the two brothers
Among the many graduates at Wayne University, degrees were received by Brothers James Roberts and William Burgess in Business Administration Brother John Strauther was also graduated in Chemistry
Brother Charles Bright was elected president of Alpha Upsilon due to Brother Roberts graduation Charles is well qualified to assume the responsibilities and duties for the current year.
The Sphinx Club under the leadership of Brother William Richards, dean of pledgees numbers thirty-four members They are currently making preparations for the Annual Sweetheart's Ball to be given the latter part of this month (February.)
May I conclude by wishing good luck happiness, and health to brothers everywhere
Fraternally yours
Hansen F Hunter, Jr
Associate Editor
Dear Brothers of Alpha:
We of Gamma Eta are still striving to uphold the traditions of Alpha Phi Alpha
In November the chapter initiated four pledgees into the fraternity They are: Brothers Cleveland Brooks, Eugene Evans Bert Lurke, and Clarence Wood
The officers and roster of Gamma Eta are as follows Brothers William Bradley, president; Clarence Wood, vice-president; Garrett Cope, secretary; Eugene Evans, corresponding secretary; Bert Lurke, treasurer: Otha Porter associate editor to the Sphinx; Douglas George, chaplain; and Cleveland Brooks sergeant-at-arms Members are: Brothers Ross Townes Arthur Sanders Theadore Cooper Jesse King, and Rosewell Bibb
The Brothers of Gamma Eta are like comets, distinguishing themselves by being selected to organizations on Indiana University campus that have never before admitted Negroes Brother Harrison Lawless Graduate assistant in the School of Education, has been elected to the Education Honorary Fraternity Brother Garrett Cope who has done a wonderful job with the Little Theater Group and playing various roles
on the stage, was initiated into Theta Alpha Phi dramatic Honorary This year, he is also director of the annual Jordan River Review Brother Ross E Townes, a doctor candidate, has received a Graduate assistantship in his field of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation
Brother William Bradley, the Indiana Intercollegiate Conference 440 yard dash champion, is looking forward to going to the Olympic games in England Brother Othat Porter, a member of the famous Indiana University's "Marching Hundred Band' has been elected into Kappa Kappa Psi, honorary fraternity for outstanding college bandsmen Brothers Joseph King and Arthur Sanders are in the School of Medicine and Morris Hughes is in the school of dentistry
Brother Rosewell Bibb will be the only Negro graduate in the School of Business in February This is a good opportunity for some of the Brothers to get a good business man
Fraternally, Otha Porter, Associate Editor
Florida A. And M. State
Greetings, Brothers:
During the month of January Beta Nu Chapter honored the seniors of the Florida A. & M. College Squad of Rattlers with a "Smoker." Guests included the men who have carried their last ball for "Dear Ol' Famcee," Kelly C Wilson, Nathaniel Powell, Reche Sims, Hawthorne Lee, Reginald Sandilands, Benard Ingram, Herbert Clark, John Burgess William Brewington, the athletic staff Head Coach Jake Gaither and his assistants, Edward Oglesby, Handsel Tookes Oscar Moore J V Anderson and Brother Robert P Griffin
Guests enjoyed playing games and a delightful repast The highlight of the evening was in the address of Past President Brother Lee Royal Hampton, Jr., who challenged the graduating Rattlers to catch the passes, and make the blocks and tackles that will lead to one world Climaxing a truly inspiring speech, Brother Hampton concluded "We want you to be men that are suncrown men who will not lie men who are clean and sincere, men who will build broad, build high, but will build eternally for God." The challenge was accepted by Co-Captain Nathaniel Powell and Coach Gaither gave motivating remarks and expressed gratitude to Beta Nu Chapter for the honor bestowed on "his boys."
Our Junior Delegate to the National Convention was so impressed with his first attendance to the 33rd Convention, he wrote me the following letter which I would like to pass on to the Brothers: Dear Brother Duncan:
I had never dreamed of what goes on In a great Alpha Convention I never even gave it a thought because I never thought I would get to attend one
When I was delegated by the Chapter to be representative to the Thirty-third General Convention, I unknowingly was destined to experience one of the most thrilling and informative endeavors I had ever witnessed I saw men—great men—who are my ideal and source of inspiration I talked with and shook hands with some of the most important men among us today Men I had read about but had never expected to see On the educational side, I learned more about procedures and order than I could have gotten from several books I learned of the issues of the day: what Alpha is doing internally and externally: its splendid contributions to the world and humanity
In the light of all these things, I think I have taken a great sip from the cup of knowledge It is my greatest wish that all Alpha men may attend a General Convention
Fraternally yours, Clarence C Glvens
Thanks for the splendid letter Brother Givens, and I hope the brothers who have
never attended a Convention, may some day do so Next stop: ATLANTIC CITY N J Fraternally yours, Arnold D Duncan, Associate Editor
Greetings:—
With the advent cf the new year Alpha Chi chapter looks back with pride at the accomplishments of the past year and hopes that all chapters have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy an equal if not greater degree of success in 1948.
Members of the chapter on November 69th had the extreme pleasure of witnessing Inaugural Ceremonies for Brother Charles S Johnson as the first Negro President of Fisk University As a special chapter project for the occasion, Brother Morris Pyles presented detailed maps of the campus to serve as guides to all visitors on the campus
In celebration of our chapter's Twentieth Anniversary the first week in December designated as "Alpha Week" on the campus Activities by the chapter were presented for the entire week
Beginning December 1st, the celebration was opened with a display of the chapter's history in the University Library The following evening, December 2nd, a bridge party was sponsored by the chapter in the Student Co-op On December 3rd, the chapter sponsored a Chapel Program, presenting two senior students from Pearl High School who spoke on "The Relationship of the high school student to the College Student." On the following evening, December 4th, a basketball game between the Fisk Varsity and the Meharry Alphas was sponsored The annual chapter smoker was given in Livingstone Chapel the following evening, December 5th, and on December 6th, the entire day was devoted to chapter activities
A "Dr I-Q" Show was presented in the morning at which time a radio-phonograph was raffled In the afternoon an outing for under-privileged children was held and that evening a formal chapter dance was held at which time Miss Joyce Thornton was crowned "Miss Alpha Chi." Sunday, December 7th, cnurch services were held in Fisk Memorial Chapel Brother Thomas M Broomfield had charge Text of his sermon was "The Precepts of Alpha." Sunday evening the week's activities were brought to a close in the university chapel by the chapter's presentation of Brother B V Lawson, General President, who gave the guest address
Officers for the current year were elected as follows:—
Frank Demby, president; Calvin Lee, vicepresident; Lawrence Neblett, secretary; Robert Taylor, corresponding secretary; George Moore, treasurer; John Queen, Dean of Pledges; Broadus Jackson, parliamentarian; James Moreland, chaplain; Maurice Henderson, sergeant-at-arms; Kenneth Love, associate Sphinx editor and Historian; and Morris Pyles, Lay member to Executive Council
We take pride in announcing the following brothers who have individually distinguished themselves namely Brothers Charles A Lee and Emery O Utterback, who were selected for membership in the 1947 publication of Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities
We are also proud to announce the admittance of sixteen neophyte brothers Into the great bond of Alpha fellowship They
crossed the burning sands December 4, 1947
Fraternally yours, KENNETH A LOVE, Associate Editor
MOST OUTSTANDING
Brother
Richard Huston, newly elected president, Alpha Xi Lambda Chapter, Toledo Ohio, was named the most outstanding football player in the TOLEDO BLADE (Newspaper) sponsored Glass Bowl during the latter part of 1947. The progressive white daily publication one of the most influential in the Middlewest, featured Brother Huston in its December 9 (1947) sports section 11 staled in art:
BLADE OUTSTANDING PLAYER TROPHY TO GO TO HUSTON Toledo's high scoring backfielder selected as top gridder in Annual Glass Bowl Game
"A five-toot 8-inch Negro who can run the 100-yard dash in 9.9 and who batted better than .500 in collegiate baseball was elected by the press box as the outstanding player in a ToledoBlade-sponsored poll at the second annual football game His football buddies call him the "Deacon" because he doesn't drink, smoke or swear and is active in his church His professors call him "Richard" or "Mr Huston" and when he graduates from the University of Toledo next June he will have a bachelor of education degree and some scholarship honors after his name He is an All-A student
Huston is a Toledo boy He lives with his widowed mother, Mrs Martha Huston, and plans to play pro football and baseball when he leaves school An alternate is to get a job teaching in the south
Huston will be guest of the Toledo Blade at the game next year and will be presented with a glass carved plaque The Blade sent a release with pictures of Brother Huston to most of the Negro newspapers
ALPHA XI LAMBDA
Toledo, Ohio
Greetings, Brothers: When this copy reaches print, It Is hoped
that Brother Dr Leo V English, Sr., will have completely recovered from his illness He suffered an attack of pneumonia Brother R Morrison during the first of the year went to Canton, Ohio to take a pharmacist position with South Side Pharmacy
Many brothers still remember the chapter's Spring Formal given in the beautifully decorated Frederick Douglas Community Hall, the Mid-Summer Picnic held at Fox Lake, the basketball games and impressive tea, not to mention the Fall Smoker and two initiations held during the past year Other affairs of equal enjoyment and importance will be given this year
Fraternally yours, G E Buall
Associate Editor
Greetings:
Alpha Zeta Lambda Chapter located In the southern section of the State of West Virginia and in the heart of the bituminous coal fields—the famous Pocahontas vein— Is showing the same excellent spirit which prevailed last year under the able leadership of Brother Shelton whose guiding influence, sincerity of purpose, administrative ability resulted In one of the most outstanding years in the history of the chapter Brothers have responded to payment of the chapter budget with enthusiasm and at this period
Alpha Zeta Lambda Chapter is making a bid for initial honors for paid In full grand tax with nearly fifty members on the roster Brothers attended the three fall-winter assemblies of the Chapter in large numbers and showed a very excellent spirit of cooperation on all matters vital to the welfare of the organization We are continuing to plan, build and further enhance for the future months to come because no group can develop and maintain the interest of the rank and file without a composite and worthwhile program
New chapter officers were elected at the December meeting held in the city of Kimball. They are the following:
Brother Stewart Calhoun, President; Brother Edward Herbert, Vice-President; Brother E W Browne, Secretary; Brother Claude Kingslow. Treasurer; Brother Theodore Mahaffey, Assistant Secretary; Brother John Franklin Chaplain; Brother Dr D T Murray, Editor to the Sphinx
These officers were installed at the January meeting at which time the delegates and alternates to the Tulsa Convention made their report This meeting is always well attended because all of the Brothers in Alpha Zeta Lambda Chapter are interested in Convention developments and highlights as are eloquently expressed by Brothers Dr. H. L. Dickason and Edward Hebert who represented the Chapter and aided and abetted by Brothers Gerald Brown and Early McGee who acted as alternates.
The graduate Brothers entertained undergraduate Brothers of Beta Theta Chapter— Bluefield State College -with the Annual Smoker and Get-together at the close of the business session of the second meeting of the year held in the Administration Building of the College Many items of importance were discussed and from the meeting came a most excellent spirit of cooperation and understanding Brothers in Beta Theta, your Brothers of the Graduate Chapter—Alpha Zeta Lambda—only wish you God speed and good luck In all of your reports with our strength of years
behind you Remember—we all were young once—too!!!
Fraternally yours,
D T MURRAY, Associate Editor
Daytona Beach, Florida
Less than three years ago Beta Delta Lambda Chapter was revived We were struggling along to keep the chapter alive with eight brothers We are proud that our chapter has grown to a chapter roster of nineteen brothers It seems that Beta Delta Lambda has been a "Mecca" for all brothers passing through and all that have come into our midst have been filled with Alphadom We now lead all other "Greeks" in this section and we realize our responsibility With our roster filled with brothers who are leaders in their fields it is difficult to get all of the brothers together at one time for "Frat Meeting." Brother Richard V Moore President of Bethune Cookman College is away in the North at this writing Brother James S Huger has his time divided many ways
He is constantly on the go as a representative of The United Negro College Fund and also a very able representative of the college in Publicity, Contact and Promotion In his spare time he is the father of a fine baby boy born Christmas day Since the new arrival keeps Brother Huger awake at nights he has been trying to teach him the Alpha Hymn Since if he must stay awake he would rather listen to the strain of "In Our Dear A-Phi-A."
Brother William H Hale who served Bethune College as Dean is making a very enviable record at the University of Chicago where he is completing his work towards the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology Brother Baker is to leave soon to do further study in the fields of education. sociology and guidance Wo know that we will continue to be proud of him To list the many and varied activities of the brothers of Beta Lambda Chapter would be like writing an article of "Who's Who here in Daytona Beach Fla." We will keep the torch of A-Phi-A burning bright and hope to have the privilege of greeting more brothers and Greeks in our vicinity
Beta Delta Lambda Chapter, H E Bartley, M D. Chapter Secretary
Montgomery, Alabama
The Alpha tradition of warm brotherhood and festive entertainment has been perpetuated with added emphasis by the fraters of Alpha Upsilon Lambda in their meetings. Opening meeting of the fall season was held with Brothers G H Lockhart and T J. Mayberry at the home of Brother Mayberry At this meeting general plans for the year were discussed and formulated The November meeting was held with Brother Henry Brother B J Simms served as co-host
Election of officers for 1948 was held at this meeting with the following results: President, Brother Dr W E Anderson; VicePresident Brother C Johnson Dunn: Recording Secretary, Brother W H Coston; Corresponding Secretary and Editor to The Sphinx, Brother T J Mayberry: Treasurer, Brother Dr R E Tisdale; Chaplain, Brother A E Fews: Sergeant-at-Arms, Brother Dr J Garrick Hardy
The December meeting, final one before the Convention, was held at the home of Brother Elisha James with Brother R A Lewis, co-host Pre-Christmas festive spirit ran high at this meeting
Convention delegates from whom the convention assemblage should expect both were the President-Eleot, Brother Dr W
E Anderson; and the retiring president, Brother Dr C T Simpson Fraternally yours, T J MAYBERRY
Associate Editor
New York City
Dear Brothers in Alpha:
One writer once said, "The past has gone, forget it, the present is here use it the future is coming prepare for it."
We the members of Eta will go along witli the writer on his idea of the present and the future, but it is against our better judgment to forget the past. For it is the past we recollect a number of failures or mistakes We do not however, look back to use them as stepping stones in achieving the high ideals for which we are seeking
Eta members ,ire very conscious of the present problems, and realize what we do now will determine our success in the future Not only does this apply to us as members of a fraternity but to us as persons of a minority group
It is with these ideas in mind that Eta is formulating its program for 1948 We plan to take our programs more to the community this year This can be done by our actively working with such groups as The Harlem Committee on Equality in Education At the same time all brothers in a recent meeting signed a petition, sent by this committee, to enforce a bill through the State Legislature outlawing educational discrimination
To join ourselves with such groups as mentioned above does not constitute our entire efforts Our greatest interests lie in initiating programs of our own Already plans are being made for our Education For Citizenship program, and scholarly dance
Congratulations to Brother Snndif'er on his recent appointment These have been first reelected president of Eta Chapter, second his appointment, by Brother General President Belford Lawson, as Chairman of the Constitutional Committee, and third his appointment as president of the New York Branch of the N A A C P
In the name of Eta Chapter, and the N A A C P., Brother Sansifer recently addressed a community group on the subject "Freedom from Hate."
At our first meeting of the year we heard reports from our convention delegates, Brothers David Smith and Jawn Sandifer
The thoroughness and completeness of these reports served as inspirations to other brothers to attend the next general convention
Also at this meeting there was an installation of officers, with Brother Edwood Byas, our ex-secretary, performing the installation ceremonies is synonymous with his work as secretary of Eta Chapter for the past twelve years Brothers of Eta are cognizant of Brother Byas' invaluable services
As an official recognition, we are presenting to him a scroll, signed by all the brothers and a personal gift These presentations will be made at a social gathering of all the brothers, their wives and sweethearts At the same time Mrs Byas will be presented a bouquet of flowers This token of appreciation to Brother Byas is to be a permanent undertaking to brothers who have done meritorious work in the chapter
Brother Van Turner, a neophyte, was a recent representative from Eta, to a meeting of the Inter-Fraternity Sorority Council
We, the members of Eta mourn the recent passing of Brothers Ellsworth Brevard of Eta and Clarence Richardson of Alpha Gamma Lambda into the Omega Chapter
So for Eta, this is all the news for now. Our only wish is that all chapters will enjoy a very prosperous year as "servants of all, and transcendants of all.'
Fraternally yours, Harold Simmons, Associate Editor
Jackson, Tennessee
Brothers o£ Alpha Phi Alpha,
Greetings:
Beta Upsilon Chapter is back in action
Members have pledged to make up for the year of inactivity which the chapter experienced Three new members were initiated into the chapter in December They are Brothers H Baker, J Womack and N E Rice, instructors at Lane College
At the first meeting, prior to the Tulsa Convention, the following officers were elected: Brother Stone, president; Brother Baker secretary; Brother Beck, executive secretary; Brother Currie treasurer; and Brother N E Rice, associate editor The members are confident that these officers will guide the chapter through a pleasant and successful year Brothers Beasley and Ballard were elected to represent the chapter at the Tulsa Convention
On January 11 1948 a meeting was held mainly to hear the reports of the delegates Since Brother Ballard was unable to attend the convention Brother Beasley gave the entire report He made us see and feel the spirit of the convention, so full, vivid and complete his report was.It made every member wish he had been able to have attended Here is a brief statement from the delegate:
"I have attended many conventions and have been impressed in many ways and to different degrees However I must say that the spirit and enthusiasm of the Tulsa Convention have made an indelible impression upon the course of my future thinking."
Each member has pledged himself to do everything he can to help humanity to find Its place in the sunlight of this great democracy through ALPHA PHI ALPHA Fraternally yours
N E Rice Associate Editor
Jackson, Mississippi
Greetings, Brothers In Alphadom:--
December 8th past marked the first lnlt :ition held by our chapter since its re-activatlon Nine new brothers were made and introduced to the aims and secrets of the grand Fraternity
Initiation was followed by a banquet for the new brothers Then a business meeting washeld for purpose of electing officers for the incoming year All officers were re-elected for 1948 Brother R O Woodward, of Jackson Miss., was named delegate to the General Convention In Tulsa This session was of Importance to us because application had been made for setting up an undergraduate chapter at Jackson College Establishment of such a chapter on the campus at Jackson College was the primary aim of Alpha Epsilon Lambda last year, and much time and effort were expended in laying groundwork for this Important step You perhaps know by now at least delegates to the convention, that Alpha Phi Alpha In its 33rd General Session in Tulsa, did approve the application and for which act every brother of chapter rejoices You'll hear more about our action in getting the chapter set up in a future issue of the Sphinx
This will be the first undergraduate chapter established in the State of Mississippi, and the influence it should wield should have salutary effects upon young people of college age
New brothers who entered the realm of Alphadom Include Brothers Prof Robert W Hunter P E R Ammons, both of Alcorn College; Dr R W Harrison, Natchez Miss.; Prof J H Spriggs Laurel, Miss.: George Jefferson, and O W Howard, both of Vicks-
burg; Lewis A Miller, Monroe, La.; John L Frisby, and Lt Le Vergne Randolph Jackson, Miss Fraternally yours
F E PINSON, JR.
Associate Editor
Greetings Brothers:
Gamma Mu Chapter is radiating the light of Alpha On December 5 the chapter commemorated the forty-first anniversary of Alpha Phi Alpha by presenting a chapter program Brother Arthaniel Harris, of Beta Mu Lambda Chapter, was the principal speaker; he chose for his theme "The Challenge of New Frontiers for the Greek Letter Organization.' The speech was delivered in the true Alpha fashion December 12 to 19, the chapter held its probation period Five Sphinxmen succeeded in crossing the burning sand; they are as follows: Brothers Samuel Love, Ruben Salters, William Johns, Lowden Anderson and Howard Lynch
We offer here a brief resume of the extended activities that the chapter is looking forward to: We are sponsoring a series of plays presented by dramatic groups from other schools February 12 the Bennett College Players of Greensboro, N C, are to present the play "Hedda Gabler" by Henrick Isben After the presentation, the chapter will give a formal reception for the entire cast In March, the chapter will present the Johnson C Smith University Players from Charlotte N C and in April the players from Barbara Scotia College of Concord N C On April 18 in commemoration of Education for Citizenship week, we will have as guest speaker our General President, Brother Belford V Lawson The Brothers of the Chapter are looking forward to this occasion with great anticipation During this week Brothers from the chapter will speak in all the high schools within the radius of 60 miles
At the end of the school year, the chapter intends to award a trophy to the student making the highest scholastic attainment The chapter will also sponsor in the month of March a series of coffee hours, inviting members of all Greek Letter Organizations, at which time there will be a discussion on some current topic of general interest The primary purpose of this assemblance will be to better the relationship between Greek Letter organizations
The chapter deeply regrets that the deleate chosen to attend the National Convention in Tulsa was unable to do so because Of the untimely and unusual snowstorm in New York, which grounded his plane
Officers of Gamma Mu are as follows: Brothers Alfred Edwards, president; Dabney Montgomery, vice-president; and Dean of Pledges; R L Hopkins, secretary and treasurer; Samuel Love, corresponding secretary; William Johns, sergeant-at-arms, and Howard Lynch, associate Editor to the Sphinx Yours fraternally
Howard Lynch
Associate Editor
Morris Brown College
Greetings:
It is with pride that we greet you from the "Gate City" of the South Iota Chapter is striving to maintain the high ideals and aspirations of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. On December 1th, the chapter observed the founding of the fraternity with a program presented in the College Chapel All of the Greek letter organizations on the campus participated in paying tribute to the founders of Alpha Phi Alpha; Brothers from Alpha Phi Chapter (Clark College) and Alpha Rho Chapter (Morehouse College) also participated
On December 18 nine Sphinxmen crossed the burning sands into dear old Alpha land
The Neophytes were entertained with an elaborate banquet held in the city Brothers of Iota Chapter were hosts Brother L D Graves Education and Physical Training Instructor of the College was the speaker of the occasion Brother Welcome, president of Alpha Rho Chapter and Brother Daughty of Alpha Phi Chapter rendered encouraging remarks. The neophytes were tremendously elated and awed by the magnificence of Alpha
The Chapter raised the scholastic standards necessary for acceptance into the fraternity due to the increasing number of men on the campus aspiring to become members of the Fraternity This is deemed vital in order to select the men of highest caliber and scholastic achievement in line with the ideals of Alpha. We are happy to report that Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity led the Greek letter organizations on the campus in scholastic achievement during the semester
The Chapter inaugurated an activity calendar which embraces events to be sponsored throughout the school year. The first of a series of these activities is a Hill Billy Jamboree serving a dual purpose: to secure funds for the College Founders Day and to extend hospitality toward visiting athletic teams, which no other campus organization has endeavored to do Xavier University Basketball team is the guest at this affair
Officers for 1948:Brothers, Thomas Adams, president; Earl Stokes, vice-president; James Greene, secretary; Wade Ramsey, treasurer; George Harris, Dean of Pledgees; Benjamin S. Gay, Chaplain; Moton L. Edwards, associate Editor to The Sphinx Fraternally yours, Moton L Edwards, Charles Callier, Associate Editors
Cornell University
Greetings Brothers:
From high above Cayugas waters Alpha Chapter looks forward to 1948with the firm resolve that it shall be bigger and better than '47
Our activities began this fall, with an election meeting The officers elected were: Brother Harold Wood, President; Brother Spencer J Robinson, Vice President; Brother James K Baker, Corresponding Secretary; Brother Dr Alex J Galvin Treasurer, and Brother John W Bromley Secretary At this meeting a program of community service was discussed and adopted
On November 20 Alpha Chapter was host to a group of graduate Brothers from Syracuse N Y. and five of ihe new men on the campus at the Fall Smoker Brother R J Robinson was in large measure responsible for the success of the evening because of his efforts as the chairman of the Smoker Committee
We were very proud and pleased to receive the news that one of our past presidents, Brother Aurbry Robinson, Cornell Law '47 had been admitted to the Bar in N Y We wish him all possible success It is with regret that we say goodbye to Brother James K Baker, who will graduate from the Law School in February, 1948and seek admittance to the Penn Bar He has been a key figure in the activities of Alpha Chapter since 1941 Brother Baker takes with him all our wishes for success and happiness Brother John W Bromley also leaves us shortly for Cornell Medical School in New York City He was one of a select group of eighty-eight to enter in Sept., 48
Four Brothers crossed the Burning Sands, on December 18.They were. Brothers George Fowler, Alan Cave, Harold Treadwell, and Leo L Bromley After the Ritual and during the Banquet the new Brothers were addressed by Brother President Harold Wood on the topic of Service to Alpha
The following little Brothers became Sphinxmen recently, Richard Allaway, James Daniels, and Ted Issen
As we go to press the attention of the
Brothers is focused upon the report of Brother Dr A P Johnson on the Tulsa Convention, which we understand was on the best ever In closing the mother chapter extends to all Brothers her best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year Fraternally yours
Leo L Bromley, Associate Editor
College
Greetings Brothers:
Although this is Gamma Kappa's first appearance in the Sphinx since the chapter was chartered in May. 1947, we have been steadily on the forward march in preserving the precious traditions and keeping ever aloft in the glorious ideals and aims of our great Fraternity
Last fall Gamma Kappa included in its program the publishing of a "Handbook for Miles College Students" which was given free to all students to facilitate such matters as registration and enrollment and to orientate new students into the life of our college here in the Magic City
Gamma Kappa is also actively participating in inter-fraternal and other campus activities President Brother Walter D Branch is Chairman of the Committee for Action on Inter-Fraternal Activities Brother Frank Pearson is President of the Student Council and Brother Timothy M Hosea is the Council's Vice-President Brother Rufus H Reid Jr. is President of the Junior Class and Brother Theodore L Jones is a Student Council Representative from the Senior Class
Brother George C Bell of Omicron Lambda Chapter who is also Principal of Ullman High School here in Birmingham Alabama, was presented in an address on "The Place of Greek Letter Organizations in our National Life." This address was delivered on Gamma Kappa's chapel program, January 16 1948
Our officers for this year are Brothers Walter D Branch President; Timothy M Hosea, Vice President; William L Whiteside, Secretary; Rufus H Reid, Jr. Treasurer; Leroy A Simmons, Sergeant-at-Arms; Isom J Morgan, Parliamentarian; Theodore L Jones, Chaplain; and Frank Pearson, Historian and Associate Editor of the Sphinx Brother Charles L Shepard, Dean of Instruction at Miles College, is faculty adviser to our chapter
Gamma Kappa has organized its Sphinx Club which boasts of twelve fine young men jfraternally yours, Frank Pearson, Associate Editor s
GAMMA SIGMA LAMBDA Macon, Ft. Valley, Ga.
In this the first appearance in these columns of chapter news from Gamma Sigma Lambda, we wish to extend a hearty "Greetings Brother" to all of Alphadom
When on March 25, 1947, Brother William Gray, Jr., President of Florida A &M College, Tallahassee and Southern Vice-Presiden of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, conducted installation ceremonies and presented the Chapter Charter lor Gamma Sigma Lambda it was "a dream come true" for the Brothers of Middle-Georgia who for years had realized the need of a graduate chapter in this section The following officers were installed: Brother Frank J Hutchings, Sr., president; Brother William F McKenny, vice-president; Brother Raymond J Pitts, secretary; Brother Waldo W E Blanchet, treasurer and Brother Willis B Sheftall editor to the SPHINX Other charter-members are Brother William Duval, Brother Earl Pierro and Brother Cassander W Sellers.
Our chapter roster was increased to eleven last December, by the following transferees: Brother O E Hicks Brother Dr Charles I: tchings and Brother E E Ware
Although circumstances prevented realization of some of our initial activity plans \vc have enjoyed the fellowship of monthly socials and kept high the good old spirit Thus, we enter the new year feeling inspired to "carry on" in the fine tradition of our dear fraternity Best wishes to all Fraternally yours
Willis B Sheftall, Associate Editor
Benedict College
Greetings to Alpha Men everywhere from Gamma Pi
Our Chapter was quite enthusiastic about the progress made at the General Convention We believe that the Fraternity has made a great forward step in deciding to have a full time secretary We feel that this will give one person time to concentrate on the problems of the Fraternity as a whole and bring about more concerted activity through individual chapters
Gamma Pi began the school year's work by giving a smoker for the freshmen During "rush-week" a public program was presented The main speakers were graduate Brothers E E Taylor and R S Turner of Alpha Psi Lambda Chapter
On October 25th following the Capital City Foot-ball Classic between Benedict College and Allen University, bitter street rivals, Gamma Gamma Chapter at Allen and Gamma Pi united in a joint smoker This proved to the public that the Brotherhood in Alpha is second to none
The Chapter elected lovely Miss Lorene Ruben as its Sweetheart for 1947 Miss Ruben is a junior and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority She posed elegantly on the Alphas beautiful float during the annual homecoming parade Her attendants were Misses Lois Coleman and Mamie L Martin, both members of the Ivy Leaf Club. Miss Ruben will reign over the formal to be presented by the Chapter in late spring Congratulation to our Chapter secretary. Brother Johnny L Copeland upon being elected the "Student of 1947"by P S V O A. (the Progressive Student Veteran Organization of America) His high scholarship and many achievements brought him this honor To mention a few he serves in the following organizations: President, Le Cercle Francais: Treasurer, The Student Council; Treasurer Kappa Pi Chapter of Alpha Kappa Mu honorary society; Secretary, The B C Vets Club; Y M C A.; Member of Committee of ihe Junior branch of the N A A C P
Our President, Brother A N Neal is assistant band master and Brother Albert Sherard has been elected to the faculty
All indications point toward a most progressive and successful year here at Gamma Pi Here's wishing all the Chapters a late but prosperous New Year
Fraternally yours
Milledge S Polite, Associate Editor
Greetings Brothers:
After a silence of six years Beta Alpha again is able to raise its voice and ask for a place in the fold of all the Brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha. Through the untiring efforts of Brother Doctor Frederick Dedmond and other Brothers of Delta Lambda Beta Alpha was reactivated It has since shaken off handicap cast upon it by the war for now it boasts a membership of nineteen active Brothers, all filled with great enthusiasm and determined to keep the ideals and principles of Alpha alive
Chapter officers for the year are Brothers: Arnold Williams. President: Vernon Pennington, Vice-President; Paul Waters Corresponding Secretary; E Lloyd Davis Recording Secretary; Marvin Taylor Treasurer; Jadie Stewart Chaplain: William Robinson, Sergeant at arms; Frank J Ellis, Edi-
tor to the Sphinx Other members include Brothers: Robert Blackburn, Clarence Blount, Wilbert Walker Alfred Meyers, James Brown Hardy Arthur Spencer Nathaniel B Young
Charles B Payne III William Towns Robert Duncan, and Medford Pritchett
Under the leadership of Brother Williams, the chapter has planned in extensive program for the year On December 7, the chapter presented Brother Doctor G Lake imes who gave an inspiring message on the "Role the Church Should Play in the Development of a True Man " High on the agenda is a panel discussion on which students from John Hopkins University and Loyola College will serve The purpose of this meeting is to help foster better interracial relationship among the college students of the State Beta Alpha has greeted the new year with hope and confidence—hope that the objective for which it seeks will be attained: and confidence that the principles for which its members are dedicated will show the earmarks of manliness, courage and fellowship
Fraternally
Frank J Ellis
Associate Editor
St. Paul Minneapolis, Minn.
Greetings:
The regular monthly meeting of Gamma Xi Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity was held on January 8, 1948, with fifteen brothers present The meeting was highlighted by Brother Raymond Cannon's informative report which he brilliantly and enthusiastically presented It was apparent that each of the brothers received renewed interest and challenge
Our newly elected officers were properly installed They are Brothers John M Patton, President; Lawrence Wright, Vice-President: Whitney M Young Jr., Secretary; William M Cassius, Treasurer; and S Vincent Owens Editor of the Sphinx
Our Program Committee has presented us with challenging plans toward community betterment and better recognition of the work of Alpha Phi Alpha in our locale We have also begun discussion of our Spring Formal and hope to make it the success that it was last year when it was held in the University Ball Room We look forward to the year with renewed energies and determination.
Fraternally yours,
Whitney M Young, Jr
Associate Editor
Greetings:
With forty of the fifty-eight financial brothers present Alpha Eta Lambda chapter held its first meeting of the year at the beautiful home of Brother Martin on West Gray Street The highlight of the meeting was the reports of our delegates to the Tulsa Convention Brothers J H Law, Lee Perkins and C L Banks The delegates were high in their praise of the Tulsa brothers for a most enjoyable five days spent in their city. The brothers were generally pleased with the news of what transpired at the convention
Since our big project this year is to obtain a house for Alpha Eta Lambda, the chairman of the housing committee Brother Isaacs report was received with keen interest and spirited discussion Action, however was deferred until the February meeting A few of the brothers who had been out for some time, on being welcomed back into the fold, pledged their full support to the chapter hereafter
Alpha Phi Alpha is entering upon a new era This chapter pledges itself to get behind our officers, both national and local, in a sustained and supreme effort to forge a bigger and better Alpha Fraternally, W A Samuel, Associate Editor
From Page 19
Another school that has church affiliation is getting itself in the limelight unnecessarily—Prairie View College in Texas Shame—Shame! It looks as if the church groups have lost sight on doing anything constructive, but glorify themselves in destruction Look about you everywhere and see how much a church is really felt in its community for doing good Very few instances All you have to do is observe the masses in action.
The Supreme Court's action in the Oklahoma case has really put the Southern Jim-Crow heads together trying to figure a way out of its ruling, but the day is really coming when "there'll be no hiding place down South."
So with all the best wishes to Brother Bennie Brown in his new office I will close this "splurge" until next timehoping he'll find something I can do to assist him Beeseeingya s •
From Page 42 over to their causes by trading what well may be sweet-sounding lip service to our cause
The happy and heartening thought that cannot be lost sight of is that, because the struggle of the Negro is a righteous cause, it finds articulate and influential supporters in all walks of life These friends are speaking out more boldly and more frequently in our behalf The most dramatic and far reaching expression of recent years was contained in the report of the President's Committee on Civil Rights And led it be remembered that among those concurring in the Committee's recommendations were some of the country's outstanding capitalists and industrialists
Another equally dramatic and telling pronouncement was the report of the President's Committee on Higher Education released last week Both of these documents carried the admonition that the evils of segregation can be dealt with satisfactorily only by the abolition of segregation itself
Another indication that the people of this country are being properly conditioned for the advent of true democracy is the widespread acceptance throughout the South of colored players on normally white teams This acceptance has been expressed in open competition on southern playing fields between white and Negro athletes
Most of us are impatient for the advent of the really democratic order Put the appearance of signs here and there that progress is being made should give us strength to endure and courage to forbear For as Douglas Malloch so beautifully said in his verse "Trees and Men:"
The tree that never had to fight for sun and sky and air and light, But lived out in the open plain and always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king, but lived and died a weakly thing
The man who never had to toil, who never stooped, his hands to soil, Who never had to win his share of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a super man, but lived and died as he began
Good timber does not grow in ease:— the stronger the winds the tougher the trees,
The farther the sky the greater the length, the more the winds, the more the strength;
By sun and cold, by rain and snows, in trees and men good timber grows
Where thickest stands the forest crowth, we find the patriarchs of both:
And they hold converse with tre st^rs whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.— This is the common law of life s
From Page 38
W J DOWDELL
OMICRON LAMBDA
The committees were "tops" i,i the planning and arrangements for the convention The pre-convention initiation was a model one The religious services were impressive The public meeting was instructive, beneficial, and enjoyable The business meetings were timely, and executed according to program Helpful laws were suggested and passed that will be beneficial to the Fraternity
The social affairs were superb, and enjoyed by all As a whole the convention was one of the best ever held
NOAH WILLS SR
PRES. OMICRON LAMBDA
The Tulsa Convention marked another achievement mile post in the progressive march of Alpha Positive action toward the realization of human dignity through a strengthened brotherhood is the order of the day The contagious spirit of the convention should find further expression in growing concern and increased teamwork on the part of Alpha men to achieving full citizenship for themselves and the race
DONALD McCULLUM
ALPHA BETA
Talladega College
I was somewhat disappointed in the convention I did not like the highhanded policies of the chair and the limitless debate on matters of little consequence I hoped to learn from exnerience things that I could bring back to the chapter and use
TRUMAN TOLLETTE
ALPHA BETA
The convention was a very pleasant experience, one that I shall cherish It was educational in that it revealed the machinery of the Fraternity and an inspiration in that it rekindled the spirit of the Fraternity in me
FRANK L STANLEY
ALPHA LAMBDA
Louisville Kentucky
The Tulsa Convention was one of the best constructed It abounded in hospitality and thought-provoking sessions
Alpha made history when it set the office of Executive Secretary, and created the Far-Western Vice Presidency THIS Convention will be remembered as one of the most fruitful ones Oklahoma Brothers will forever be asked when do they want to be hosts again
(Brother Stanley served as General Chairman of the 1941 Convention in Louisville, and has been a delegate to every Alpha Convention for the past fourteen year;s.)
JOHN A BANKS
ALPHA LAMBDA CHAPTER
Louisville, Kentucky
To my mind the Thirty-third General Convention of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity should go down in history as a Jeweled milestone of Alpha Progress Setting up of the much-needed office of Executive Secretary, and essential changes of the Ritual, appraises the occasion as profitable and never to be forgotten
RAYMOND W CANNON
PAST GENERAL PRESIDENT
Minneapolis Minn
For the first time during our existence as a fraternity we commanded the attention of the nation, pev'iaps the world The public pronouncements made at the instance of Alpha Phi Alpha were clear and forceful and reached directly those for whom they were intended The courage and determination of Negroes to strive, struggle, oppose and contend until they shall attain full enjoyment of the rights of citizenship was demonstrated in no uncertain terms And Tulsa afforded an ideal setting for this particular convention
Beta Delta Chapter Fraternity is again liappy to bring to you through these columns, a report of its activities
The Sphinx Club started the school year off with a Smoker for all male freshmen and new students A good time was enjoyed by all
At the home-coming celebration Alpha stood out It is customary for each Greekletter organization to decorate one of the buildings on the campus. We decorated the hospital and won a prize In the homecoming parade, "Miss Alpha Phi Alpha" (Miss Lillian Joyner, Eastover, S C.) and her attendants (Misses Talullah Harris and Betty Logan, from Spartanburg and Sumter, S C„ respectively), adorned the beauty of the float, designed by brother John T LaSaine, a senior in architecture engineering won a prize and the praises and admiration of all homecoming fans
The Sphinx Club also had a striking float which followed, with their '"Miss Sphinx" (Miss Georgia Cobb, Orangeburg, S C) Her attendants were: Misses Maggie O'Bryant, Florence, S. C. and Vival Artimous, Columbia, S C
The new officers of the Sphinx Club are: Robert ferl Thomas, president, of Florence, S C, Julius Brice, secretary-treasurer Rock Hill S C„ William Richardson, vice-president, Charleston, S C„ Malcom Thomas, reporter, Florence, S C, Luke Chatman chaplain, of Greenville S C, and James McFadden, sergeant-at-arms, Summertcri, S C
Neophyte brothers of Beta Delta are: Jeremiah Batty, Union, Richard Thompson, Columbia, Wallace Orr, Orlando, Florida, and Fred Dowdy, Eastover, S C Fraternally yours
William McGhee
Associate Editor
Branch Y M C A Des Moines, Iowa; Secretary, Virgil F Dixon 1109 Fourteenth St., Des Moines, Iowa
ALPHA XI—University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
ALPHA OMICRON—Johnson C Smith University, Charlotte, N C; President, Elmer A Anderson, Johnson C Smith University, Charlotte, N C; Secretary, Obadiah Williams, Johnson C Smith University, Charlotte, N C
ALPHA PI—Louisville Municipal College, Louisville, Ky
ALPHA RHO—Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia; President, Noah E Wills, Jr., Morehouse College Aalanta, Ga.; Secretary, James R Jones, 199 Howell St., Atlanta, Ga
ALPHA SIGMA—Wiley College, Marshall, Texas; President, Joseph R Willie, Wiley College, Marshall, Texas; Secretary, Felton C Anderson, Wiley College Marshall Texas
ALPHA TAU—Akron University, Akron, Ohio; President, Herbert R Bracken, 385 Wellington, Akron, Ohio; Secretary Sterling Tucker, 786 Euclid, Akron, Ohio
ALPHA UPSILON—Wayne University, Detroit, Michigan; President, James Roberts, 72 E EucHd, Detroit 2, Mich.; Secretary, Albert Somervllle, 6031 Northfield, Detroit 10 Mich _
ALPHA PHI—Clark College, Atlanta, Georgia; President, Wm P Jones Clark College, Atlanta Ga.; Secretary Paul L Hatchett, Clark College, Atlanta, Ga
ALPHA CHI—Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.; President Charles J Lee; Box 358 Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.; Secretary, Lawrence Neblett, Fisk University, Nashville 8, Tenn __
ALPHA PSI—Lincoln University, Jefferson City Mo.; President Theodore Harris Lincoln University Jefferson City, Mo.; Secretary, Harry Browder, Lincoln University, Jefferson City Mo
BETA ALPHA—Morgan College, Baltimore, Md.; President, C A Williams, 2506 Druid Hill Baltimore Md.; Secretary Paul E Waters 2532 Pennsylvania Ave., Baltimore 17 Md
BETA BETA—University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska; President, Chas M Goolsbv 1029 Park St. Lincoln Nebr.; Secretary, Alfred B Grice, 427 North 24th Street Lincoln, Nebr
BETA GAMMA—Va State College, Petersburg, Va.; Edward L Smith President: Virginia State College Petersburg Va.; Secretary, Gregory W Brockman, Virginia State College, Ettrick Va
BETA DELTA—State College Orangeburg, S C : President, Frank J Toland State College Orangeburg, S C: Secretary, William D Daniels State College Orangeburg S C
BETA EPSILON—A & T College, Greensboro, N C ; John C Rawls President Box 94 A & T College Greensboro N C: Secretary John L Lambeth, Box 341, A & T College, Greensboro, N C
BETA ZETA—Samuel Houston College, Austin, Texas; President, Ed H Hoover 1015 E 12th St. Austin Texas; Secretary, J P Joshua Sam Houston College, Austin Texas
BETA ETA—Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, 111.; President Leroy Ducksworth, 318 E Oak Carbondale 111.; Secretary, Chas V Anderson, 424 E Jackson, Carbondale, HI
BETA THETA—Bluefield State College Bluefield, West Va.: President, B O Calhoun Bluefield State College; Secretary, Theodore Randolph, Bluefield State College Bluefield, West Va
BETA IOTA—Western State College, Kalamazoo, Michigan
BETA KAPPA—Langston University Langston, Okla.; Amos Stevenson, Langston University Langston Okla.; Secretary, Eddie Fred Jordon, Langston University Langston, Okla
BETA MU—Kentucky State College Frankfort, Ky.; President, Harold V Smith, Ky State College Frankfort Ky.; Secretary, Cecil Crum, Kentucky State College, Frankfort, Kentucky
BETA NU—Florida A & M College, Tallahassee Florida; President, Lee R Hampton Fla A & M College, Tallahassee Fla.; Secretary, Charles Z Smith Fla A & M College, Tallahassee, Fla
BETA XI—LeMoyne College Memphis, Tenn.: Charles Bodve President; 158 Gilbert Memphis, Tenn.: Secretary, George D Clark Jr. 813 Ioka Memphis Tenn
BETA OMICRON—Tenn A & I State College, Nashville, Tenn.; President, Clarence Kimbrough, Tenn A & I State College Nashville Tenn.; Secretary George Breathett Tenn A & I State College, Nashville Tenn
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BETA PI—Lane College Jackson, Tenn.; Louis J Flowers
Lane College, Jackson Tenn.: Secretary, Percy A Houston, Lane College Jackson, Tenn
BETA RHO—Shaw University, Raleigh, N C; President Shade Connor Shaw University Raleigh N C; Secretary Walter R Alston, Shaw University Raleigh N C
BETA SIGMA—Southern University Scotlandville, La.; Huel D Perkins President; Southern Branch P O Box 9385, Baton Rouge La.; Secretary Leonard S Washington, Southern Branch P O Box 9385, Baton Rouge, La
BETA TAU—Xavier University, New Orleans, La.; President Hargrove Wooten, Xavier University New Orleans 18, La.; Secretary, Anthony M Rachel 3415 General Taylor, New Orleans 13 Louisiana
BETA UPSILON—Alabama State College, Montgomery, Ala.; Ralph D Harris, President; State Teachers College Montgomery, Ala.; Secretary William Gholston, State Teachers College Montgomery, Ala
BETA PHI—Dillard University, New Orleans, La.; President, Antoine Joseph, Dillard University New Orleans La.; Secretary, Joe Rhinehart, Dillard University New Orleans La
BETA CHI—Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Arkansas; President Wm H Fowler 3220 W 17th Little Rock Ark.; Secretary, James Robinson, Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Arkansas
BETA PSI—Oxford University London, England
GAMMA ALPHA—Texas College Tyler, Texas, President James Thompson, Texas College, Tyler, Texas; Secretary Luther C Simond, Texas College, Tyler, Texas
GAMMA BETA—North Carolina College, Durham, N C ; President, Harold T Epps, Box 528, N C College Durham, N C; Secretary, Thomas Cole, Box 528, North C College Durham, N C
GAMMA GAMMA—Allen University, Columbia, S C, President William J Murray Allen University, Columbia, S C kn 70
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GAMMA DELTA—Arkansas A M and N College, Pine Bluff, Ark.; President, Willie C Guest, A M. and N College, Pine Bluff, Arkansas; Secretary, Tyree Webster, Ark A M and N College, Pine Bluff Ark
GAMMA EPSILON—University of Wisconsin Madison Wis.; President, Horace Hobson, 1154 Williamson Street, Madison, Wis.; Secretary, Stanley P Hebert, 740 Langdon Ave., Madison, Wis
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GAMMA ZETA—Ft Valley State College, Fort Valley, Ga.; President, Robert H Simmons, Fort Vallev State College, Fort Valley, Ga.; Secretary, Wm H Deadwyler, Ft Valley State College, Fort Valley, Ga
GAMMA ETA—University of Indiana; Bloomington, Indiana, President; Wm Bradley, 605 E 8th St. Rushville, Ind.; Secretary, Garrett L Cope, 418 E Eighth Street, Bloomington Ind ,
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GAMMA THETA—University of Dayton; Dayton, Ohio
President Alvin L Bridges 520 Hartford, Dayton, Ohio; Secretary, Mr John Fields, 812 Dennison Avenue Dayton 8, Ohio
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GAMMA IOTA—Hampton Institute; Hampton, Virginia; President, William B Proctor Jr.; Secretary William B Proctor, Jr., 466 Wigwam, Hampton Institute Virginia
GAMMA KAPPA—Miles COLLEGE: Birmingham, Alabama
GAMMA MU—Livingstone College; Salisbury, N C : President Alfred L Edwards, Livingstone College, Salisbury, North Carolina; Secretary, O Summey, Jr., 921 Holmes St., Hendersonville, N C
GAMMA NU—Penn State College Pennsylvania; President, Charles R Wilson, Dorm 8, Rm 17 Pollock Circle; Secrtary, Donald L Watson, 140 N Patterson, State College Penn
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GAMMA XI—University of California; Los Angeles, California: President Albert W Jones 1356 E 18th St., Los Angeles, Calif.: Secretary Arthur A Lewis, 4356 Hooper Avenue, Los Angeles 11, California
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GAMMA OMICRON—Knoxville College; Knoxville, Tennessee; President, Henry G Marsh; Secretary Charles D Woods, 223 Deaderick Avenue, Knoxville 16, Tennessee kn 81
GAMMA PI—Benedict College Columbia, S C President, A N Neal, Benedict College Columbia S C : Secretary, Johnny L Copeland, Benedict College, Columbia, S C
101 ALPHA LAMBDA—Louisville Ky.: President, Stanson Broaddus, Box 271, Harrods Creek Ky.; Secretary, Dalton Childress 518 York Street Louisville Kentucky
102 BETA LAMBDA—Greater Kansas City: Daniel W Lewis, President, 1204 Everett Kansas City Kansas; Secretary, James A Jefferess, 1824 Passeo, Kansas Citv 8, Mo
103 GAMMA LAMBDA—Detroit, Mich.; President, Dr T M White 5014 Cecil Detroit 10 Mich.; Secretary, Grover D Lange, 571, Algar, Detroit 2, Mich
104 DELTA LAMBDA—Baltimore Md. President W T Dixon 1933 McCulloh Baltimore 17, Md.: Secretary, Dr F H Desmond, Morgan State College, Baltimore 12, Md
105 EPSILON LAMBDA—St Louis, Mo.; President Virgil McKnight 2601 N Whittier St. Louis 13 Mo.; Secretary John D Buckner, 4246, W N Market Street, St Louis 13, Mo
106 ZETA LAMBDA—Newport News, Va.: President, H W Ridley 2404 Marshall Ave., New Port News, Va.; Secretary, C C Johnson 1117 Twenty-ninth Street, Newport News, Va
107 THETA LAMBDA—Dayton Ohio; President Walter E Wiley, 2600 Lakeview Ave. Dayton Ohio; Secretary, Robert H Snow 2404 McCall St., Dayton Ohio
108 ETA LAMBDA—Atlanta, Ga.; President, Nelson C Jackson 250 Auburn Ave., Atlanta 3, Ga.; Secretary, George L Edwards Room 602, 250 Auburn Ave., Atlanta, Ga
09 IOTA LAMBDA—Indianapolis Ind.; President, Spurting Clark, 413 W 29th St., Indianapolis 8, Ind.; Secretary, Everett Edwards, 4113 Cornelius Indianapolis 8 Ind
10 Kj.PPA LAMBDA—Greensboro N C; President, Dr George H Evans, 908 Salem St. Greensboro, N C : Secretary, R D Crockett, 535 Macon St., Greensboro N C
111 MU LAMBDA—Washington D C ; President Verdie L Robinson 2803 13th St. N E. Washington, D C; Secretary, C C House 2824 14th St. N E., Washington, D C
112 NU LAMBDA—Petersburg Va.: President Odell Harris, 907 Wilcox St., Petersburg Va.; Secretary, John L Lockett, Va State College, Petersburg Va
113 XI LAMBDA—Chicago, 111.; President, Thomas M Clarke 417 E 47th St. Chicago, III.; Secretary, William E Goodall 9421 South Forrest, Chicago 111
114 OMICRON LAMBDA—Birmingham Ala.; President Wayman C Matherson, 412 10th Ave., N., Birmingham 4, Ala.; Secretary, Whetstone W Wesley, 416 Ninth Court, N Birmingham, 4 Ala
Kn 115 PI LAMBDA—Little Rock, Ark.; President, LeRoy Williams 1516 Bishop, Little Rock, Ark.; Secretary, Albert Rutherford 1216 Commerce Little Rock, Ark kn 116 RHO LAMBDA—Buffalo, N Y.; President, Dr W B Holland, 357 William St., Buffalo 4 N Y; Secretary, Russell N Service, 125 Glenwood Ave., Buffalo 8, N Y Kn 117 SIGMA LAMBDA—New Orleans La.; President, John M Ross Dillard University New Orleans, La.; Secretary, Marcus Neustader 2201 Lafitte, New Orleans, La
kn 118 TAU LAMBDA—Nashville Tenn.; Aaron A Allen President 1601 18th Ave. N. Nashville Tenn.: Secretary, J F D McKinnev Tennessee A & I State College, Nashville, Tenn
kn 119 UPSILON LAMBDA—Jacksonville Fla.; President, Dr T M Christopher, 1369 Davis St., Jacksonville Fla.; Secretarv T Thomas 1760 Mvrtle Jacksonville Florida
kn 120 PHI LAMBDA—Raleign, N C, President, H C Perrln 725
S Blount St., Raleigh N C; Secretary, W C Davenport 909 E Hareett St. Raleigh N C
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CHI LAMBDA—Wilberforce, Ohio: President, Wendolyn Terrell 323 E Church St. Xenia, Ohio; Secretary, Clarenc* H Mills Sr. P O Box 129 Xenia, Ohio
PSI LAMBDA—Chattanooga Tenn.; President, Richelieu W Strange, 1027 E 10th St., Chattanooga, Tenn.; Secretary Samuel W Seals, 642 Maple Court Chattanooga Tenn
ALPHA ALPHA LAMBDA—Newark, N J.: Clarence S Janifer, 208 Parker St., Newark, N J.; Secretary, Arthur C Williams 158 Lincoln St. Montclair, N J
ALPHA BETA LAMBDA—Lexington, Ky.; President P
L Guthrie 274 E 4th St. Lexington Ky.: Secretary, S T Roach 505 B S Aspendale Lexington Ky
ALPHA GAMMA LAMBDA—New York City; President Andrew Tyler, 462 W 146th Street, New York City N Y Secretary, C Arthur Jackson, 400 Convent Ave., New York 31 N Y
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ALPHA DELTA LAMBDA—Memphis, Tenn.; President
Charles H Tarpley, 299 Leath, Memphis, Tenn.; Secretary Marvin E Tarpley, 1491 Felix, Memphis, Tenn
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ALPHA EPSILON LAMBDA—Jackson Miss.; President
Herchel Latham, Latham Funeral Home, Jackson, Miss.: Secretary, W Bruce Welch, Jackson College, Jackson, Miss
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ALPHA ZETA LAMBDA—Bluefield West Va.; President, Clarence E Shelton, 258 Court St. Welch, W Va.; Secretary, E W Browne, Bluefield State College Bluefield, W W Va
ALPHA ETA LAMBDA—Houston Texas; President John E Codwell, 5508 Tremper Houston, Texas; Secretary, Clifton L Banks, 3420 Dennis Houston Texas
ALPHA THETA LAMBDA—Atlantic City, N J.; President C M Cain, 1711 Arctic Atlantic City, N J.; Secretary Austin J Martin, 128 W Greenfield Ave., Pleasantville, New Jersev
ALPHA IOTA LAMBDA—Charleston W Va.; President E L James Institute, W Va.; Secretary, Wm J L Wallace, Box 102 Institute, W Va
ALPHA KAPPA LAMBDA—Roanoke, Va.; President Frank W Clavton 810 Gilmer Roanoke, Va.; Secretary, Robert Coleman, 312 Gilmer, N W„ Roanoke Va
ALPHA MU LAMBDA—Knoxville, Tenn.; President, OtU T Hogue 217 South Chestnut, Knoxville, Tenn.; Secretary, J Claude Woods, Jr., 22J Deadrick Ave.,Knoxville, Tenn
ALPHA NU LAMBDA—Tuskegee, Ala.; President, Dr Robert D Reid, P O Box 953, Tuskegee Institute, Ala.; Secretary, Dr H J Romm, P O Box 23, Tuskegee Institute Ala
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ALPHA XI LAMBDA—Toledo Ohio; President Richard Houston 248 Michel St., Toledo Ohio; Secretary George E Bush, 955 Woodland Ave., Toledo Ohio
ALPHA OMICRON LAMBDA—Pittsburgh, Pa.; President Dr McKinley King 603 Gearing Ave. Pittsburgh Pa.; Secretary, Wilbur C Douglass 412 Bakewell Building, Pittsburgh, Pa
ALPHA PI LAMBDA—Winston-Salem, N C; President, Dr J M Walker, Jr., 800 N Cameron, Winston-Salem 4, N C; Secretary, A P Marshall 848 N Cameron, Winston-Salem 4, N C
ALPHA RHO LAMBDA—Columbus, Ohio; President, Kenneth A Morris, 202 S Spring St., Columbus Ohio; Secretary Arthur L Wilson 202 East Spring St., YMCA, Columbus 15, Ohio
ALPHA SIGMA LAMBDA—Dallas, Texas; W Barton Beatty, President, 2700 Flora, Dallas, Texas; Secretary, O J Fountaine, 901Allen, Dallas, Texas
ALPHA TAU LAMBDA—Tulsa Okla; President, E W Clarke, 617 E Archer Street, Tulsa 6 Oklahoma; Secretary, Robert L Fairchild, 2119 N Quincy, Tulsa 6, Okla
kn 141 ALPHA UPSILON LAMBDA—Montgomery, Ala.; President, W E Anderson State Teachers College Montgomery, Ala.; Secretary, W H Coston, State Teachers College, Montgomery, Ala
kn 142 ALPHA PHI LAMBDA—Norfolk Va.; President, Russell Chavois 955Reservoir, Norfolk, Va.; Secretary, Thomas W Young, 721 Chapel St. Norfolk, Va
kn 143 ALPHA CHI LAMBDA—Augusta Ga.; President, Dr M S Johnson, 1420 Twiggs St.; Secretary John Tuttes, 1108 Phillips St. Augusta Ga
kn 144 ALPHA PSI LAMBDA—Columbia, S C; President, Robert W Nance, 1429 Pine St., Columbia, S C; Secretary, Harry B Rutherford 1330 Gregg Columbia, S C
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BETA ALPHA LAMBDA—Jersey City, N J. President, Dr Archie W Johnson, 169Claremont Ave., Jersey City N J.; Secretary, Donald A Thigpen, 92 Atlantic St., Jersey Citv N J
kn 146 BETA BETA LAMBDA—Miami Fla., President, Dr I P Davis 1036 N W 2nd Ave. Miami, Fla.; Secretary, Charles L Williams, 1200 N W. 6th Ave. Miami, Fla
kn 147 BETA GAMMA LAMBDA—Richmond, Va.; President George Peterson 305 1-2 E Leigh St. Richmond Va.; Secretary, Spingarn D Brinkley, 710 N Sixth St. Richmond 19 Va
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BETA DELTA LAMBDA—Daytona Beach Fla.; President, George W Engram P O Box 2348, Daytona Beach, Fla.; Secretary H E Bartley, M D„ 567 Second Ave., Daytona Beach, Fla
BETA EPSILON LAMBDA—Wewoka, Okla.; President, Ben H Hill Box 247 Boley, Okla.; Secretary, L G Ashley, Box 247, Bolev, Okla
BETA ZETA LAMBDA—Jefferson City, Missouri; President, G Robert Cotton Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri; Secretary, H H Hartshorn, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, Missouri
BETA ETA LAMBDA—Oklahoma City, Okla.; President, R P Perry, 916 N E 7th St. Oklahoma Citv Okla.; Secretary, Otis A Freeman, 531 N Kelham St., Oklahoma City 4 Okla
BETA THETA LAMBDA—Durham, N C
BETA IOTA LAMBDA—Baton Rouge, La.; President, John G Lewis Jr. Box 72 Scotlandville, La.; Secretary Martin L Harvey, Southern Branch P O., Baton Rouge, La
BETA KAPPA LAMBDA—Charleston, S C; President Dr Winston W Jones, 423 King St.; Secretary, Dr E B Burroughs, 35 Morris St. Charleston, S C
BETA MU LAMBDA—Salesbury N C; Secretary, Maxwell R Brooks 924 W Monroe St., Salisbury, N C
BETA NU LAMBDA—Charlotte, N C; President Eugene Potts, 1401 Bluff St., Charlotte, N C; Secretary, Clarence H Thomas Johnson C Smith University, Charlotte N C
BETA XI LAMBDA—Omaha, Nebraska"; President' Robert L Myers 2416 N 22nd Street, Omaha Nebraska; Secretary Joseph P Mosley, 964 North 28th Avenue, Omaha 2 Nebr
BETA OMICRON LAMBDA—Mobile, Ala.; President Alphonse Russell 204 Clay St., Mobile, Ala.; Secretary Marshall Robinson, 7 N Dearborn, Mobile Ala
BETA PI LAMBDA—Albany, New York: President William F Brown, DDS. 146 South Pearl St., Albany N Y • Secretary Crispin C Hall. 589 Third Ave N Troy N V
BETA RHOLAMBDA—Youngstown, Ohio; President Gra5n=m £yn , C c-. 52£ Kenmor e Ave.; Secretary, James E Smith 2953 Karl St. Youngstown Ohio
BETA SIGMA LAMBDA-Hartiord Conn President Dr John M Bullock 120 Hartland St. Hartford, Conn.; Secrettr^ARe^ATJ , aS , - A^ r i gh t 2 5 Broo k St. Hartford Conn
BETA TAU LAMBDA-Ft Worth, Texas; President, Wm E Brackeen, Jr., 1004 New York Ave., Ft Worth 3, Texas; Secretary, Felix C Thurmond, 1115 E Leuda St. Ft Worth
BETA UPSILON LAMBDA-Jackson Tenn.; President J T Beck Lane College, Jackson, Tenn.; Corresponding Sec^A y, T^ me , S A^^ c k ' kane c°»ege Jackson Tenn PI * m Hk LAMBDA-Savannah Georgia; President Dr ro^i= Mc P ew ', Jr - J1? Wes t Broa d Street Savannah Georgia, Secretary, Wilson P Hubert, 919 W 37th Street, Savannah, Georgia.
BETA CHI LAMBDA-Muskogee Okla.; President Toby A Owen State Hospital, Taft, Okla.- Secretary Vernon w&^SIV^^ir?* 1 S x tMusk <^ Oklahoma y ' St• iV •¥ LAVI , BPA,"_Los A"geles, Calif.; President, Dewey W Davidson 1162 E 46th St., Los Angeles, Calif Secretary Edward C Strong 230 Hammond St., Pasadena 3 Calif
GAMMA ALPHA LAMBDA—Charlottesville Va.; President, ? w' i\ Wallf- 108Beverly, Staunton Va.; Secretary, Dr V--A^r»^e£iai1A- , J!;-;,MD " U S Jefferson, Lexington Va
GAMMA BETA LAMBDA-Frankfort Ky., President, Sheley F Lynem, Kentucky State College, Frankfort Ky.; Secretary, Alexis J Richards, Kentucky State College, Frankfort, n.y.
GAMMA GAMMA LAMBDA—Greenville S C; President §• « ' wu^ rs 1 nP - S Bo x 441 ' Greenville S C; Secretary E H Whittenburg Box 15 Greenville, S C
GAMMA DELTA LAMBDA—Beckley W Va.; President S E Warren Box 942 Beckley W Va.; Secretary, Martin K Austin Box21 E Beckley, W Va
GAMMA EPSILON LAMBDA—Hopkinsville Va.; President Dr P C Brooks 201 S Va„ Hopkinsville, Ky.; Secretary Thos A West 914 E 2nd St., Hopkinsville, Ky
.GAMMA ZETA LAMBDA—Tampa Fla.; President E B Martin, 555 Twentieth Ave So., St Petersburg, Fla.; Secretary, Eugene L Avery, 1307 Lamar Ave., Tampa 2, Fla
GAMMA ETA LAMBDA—Austin, Texas; President John King, 1107 E Sixth St., Austin 22, Texas; Secretary, Campbell, Roy B J., 803 E 11th St., Austin 22, Texas
GAMMA THETA LAMBDA—Wilmington, Delaware; President John O Hopkins 1010 French St. Wilmington, Del.; Secretary, George Taylor, 926 French St., Wilmington, Del
GAMMA IOTA LAMBDA—Brooklyn, N Y.; President, Wm H Hurst, 1164 Pacific St., Brooklyn 16, N Y.; Secretary, James C Hairston, Jr., 252Gates Ave., Brooklyn 16, N Y
GAMMA KAPPA LAMBDA—Wilmington, N C; President Dr HE Eaton, 1406 Orange St. Wilmington N C; Secretary, B T Washington, 306 N 6th St. Wilmington, N C
GAMMA MU LAMBDA—Tallahassee, Fla.; President Wm A Morris P O Box 86 Tallahassee, Fla.; Secretary M G Miles, Fla A & M College, Tallahassee, Fla
GAMMA NU LAMBDA—Lynchburg, Va.; President E L Thornton 1303 Wise St., Lynchburg, Va.; Secretary B H Scott, 2200 Popular St., Lynchburg, Va
GAMMA XI LAMBDA—St Paul, Minn., Minneapolis, Minn.; President, John M Patton, 954 St Anthony, St Paul 4, Minn.; Secretary, Whitney M Young, 402 First Federal Building, St Paul 1, Minnesota
GAMMA OMICRON LAMBDA—Albany, Georgia; President, Dr Aaron Brown, Albany State College, Albany Georgia; Secretary, Henry A Ryan Albany State College, Albany, Georgia.
GAMMA PI LAMBDA—Galveston Texas President, Mack J Mosely, 3219 Avenue N.; Secretary, Joel C Harris, 3405 Ave E., Galveston, Texas
GAMMA RHO LAMBDA—Gary, Indiana: President, Randall Morgan, 2676 Adams, Gary, Indiana; Secretary Wm A Smith, 2576 Monroe, Gary, Ind
GAMMA SIGMA LAMBDA—Macon Ft Valley Ga• Preso d entl £ ran k Hutchi»gs Hutchings Funeral 'Home New iStfc&i'^v.^r'ss:-RaymondJpitts'Ftvaiiey
GAMMA TAU LAMBDA—Beaumont Texas; Secretary Ol^v » eL,WSprot t 239 8 Roberts Street, Beaumont Texas '
GAMMA UPSILON LAMBDA-Marshal" Texas President James W White Sr., Bishop College Marshall Texas Secretary, Kerven W Carter, Wiley College, Marshal!, Texas
GAMMA PHI LAMBDA—Berkeley California- Pro<Hrt<>nt Dr William Pittman, 2930 Grove St, Berkeley CaWP Secretary C Tolan Draper, 1427 Carleton Berkeley.Calif
£t,™ i A HIB«v2!tBI&T!¥m Francis co Calif.; President Jetlerson A Beaver, 1445 Lyon St San Franriwn Calif •
HAMM T P^TTAM^L^V* 2 8 Pos i Sta nSananFCranciscC o alif'•
?9 A Co J ngress SI SU A Kn7 S N re c ary ' W " Fra " k Hammond '
?07nJ a TWamn,£5AA LAMBDA-Secretary, H C Crawford
TSTTT^A S^^? n T Ave " Cleveland, Ohio
H^f*™ BE J A LAMBDA-Secretary Rober t j Anthony i ^r^i ot V. Instltute ' Hampton, Virginia
™?™ S LAMBDA-Secretary, John W Fleming
nrrTfSnSf 1 ; Cincinnati, Ohio
p^L™, ELT A LAMBDA—Secretary Robert L Smith, 419
DFTTA^CTY-^V Wes t Pal m Bea ^ Fla
vZS S„ Ep SILO N LAMBDA—Secretary, Billy Jones, 1433-A East Broadway, East St Louis 111